Falling in the Black
by Dusty Paws
Summary: Alice thought she could handle Bella and Edward's marriage. She thought her feelings would just go away. But when Jasper left, they simply got worse. Unable to tell her family what was hurting her she left to find one who already knew. Aro Volturi. AU
1. Prologue: Whispers in the Dark

I'm back with more Alice/Bella. Yes that means there could possibly be femslash in this story...how many of you are bothered by that? *looks around* Good you may all read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you see before you, not even your computer screen.

So I finally got bored of sweet, noble Alice Cullen...this could get dark and possibly bloody...fun times :)

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Prologue: Whispers in the Dark

The Cullen house was silent; no one beyond its walls would know that every member of the family was awake and enjoying themselves; dancing around the living room while the eldest son played the piano. Every member but one that is.

Alice Cullen, the youngest daughter, was perched on the windowsill of her room, letting the cool wind ruffle her short hair, her golden eyes unfocused and fixed on the moon. Her legs were dangling from the sill, kicking her heels against the side of the house. In her tiny hands was a ring that was much too large for her delicate fingers; it caught the moonlight every time she turned it, highlighting each and every scratch on the careworn metal. It was Jasper Whitlock Hale's ring.

She closed her fist on the golden band, remembering the man; he'd left the family only months ago. They'd divorced quietly and amicably, both of them smiling sadly at each other. They'd both been sorry, and they'd both been in love with someone else. It had only taken them two decades to admit it. Jasper Whitlock Hale was gone, but Mary Alice Brandon Cullen liked to think that he was looking up at the sky too, maybe not holding her ring, maybe not at the stars, but looking all the same. He had gone to Ireland, to be with Siobhan's coven, or more precisely, to be with Maggie.  
And she'd been left behind. She'd never realised how much Jasper had kept her grounded, because now, just seeing Edward with Bella set suicidal butterflies attacking her ribcage. Her brother was a good man, but she couldn't look him in his golden eyes anymore, not when she was falling for his wife. But falling was the wrong word, she could have said _falling_ twenty years ago when she first met Bella, or when Edward had left her. _Falling_ could only have applied when the girl was human. The only word now was fallen, because she was well and truly in the grip of the beautiful brunette.

Edward knew, she was sure of it. Nessie, who looked painfully like her mother, had to know too. But Alice was positive that neither of them had told Bella herself. She was searching the future everyday, just for a hint of where to go, what to do to stop the ache where her heart should have resided. She would have seen if Bella had been told.  
Esme had asked her many times over the years what was wrong, but Alice couldn't tell her, couldn't bring herself to see the disappointment in her mother's eyes.

Carlisle had asked too, less frequently than his wife, and he had received the same answer. But Carlisle knew her better than most and she knew that he at least suspected her.

Her whole family had noticed that she was more subdued. Had been quieter, seeking to be alone, for years. If they traced it back they would see that her behaviour had started not even a year after the Volturi had come for Nessie. They were blaming it all on Jasper of course; it was the most rational response, it was also wrong. It seemed that with Bella living with Edward in the woods, no one had noticed that Alice was avoiding Bella far more ardently than the others. She was forced to stay away from the best friend she'd ever had because every time she saw her, her mind was assailed by images of a future that could still happen. A future where it was Alice in Bella's arms, Alice in Bella's house, Alice in Bella's bed.  
Alice shook her head violently. "Get a grip." She muttered pulling a heavy letter from her jacket pocket. Inside the envelope was both a letter, addressed to Bella, who she knew would be the first to come looking; she always was even now, and a number of other letters, addressed to each member of her family. They all said that she was sorry, begged for them not to hate her for leaving, but only one letter explained why. That was the letter addressed to Carlisle; he deserved to know why his youngest daughter was deserting him.

Alice cast one final look around the room, the family had moved to Alaska not long after the Volturi had left them; this room was never home to her. Home was in Forks. She gave a heavy sigh and tossed the letter onto the neatly made double bed.  
"Alice?" Bella's voice filtered through the door and Alice's silent heart skipped. "Alice? Come on, we're missing you downstairs." The pixie like girl swallowed, she desperately wanted to go back, tear up the letters, and pull Bella into a hug, just like she had already done numerous times. But this time she was determined. "I'm coming in." Alice wished for one last glance at Isabella Swan but she couldn't chance that, instead she pushed herself from the ledge, just as her door began to swing open. As Bella's shocked intake of unneeded breath reached her ears Alice was already disappearing into the dark forest.

Her destination was clear; she couldn't return to Jasper, couldn't ruin his chance at happiness. She couldn't go to Forks, not so soon; everyone who had known her twenty years ago was still alive. And she couldn't go to Biloxi, to her biological family; they thought she was long dead. Aro, though, Aro had repeatedly asked her to join his guard, whether for her power or her company she didn't know, didn't care.

Alice Cullen was going to Volterra. To Aro.

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Thank you for reading thus far, please review, even flames are welcome: they will be used to heat my cold room in the evil English winter that is on its way.


	2. I: Hide and Seek

Wow, thanks for all of your amazing reviews, I didn't think this would drum up that much interest :) So I bring you another chapter...

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I: Hide and Seek

Bella pushed the wooden door lightly and scanned the dark room with her amber eyes. She should hunt, she mused. Maybe Alice would go with her; they hadn't had time to talk in what seemed like years. She frowned; in fact Alice hadn't stayed in a room alone with her long enough to talk in years. She pushed the door further open and stepped inside, she should have been able to see Alice from the doorway, she shouldn't have had to look and she gasped when the full picture filtered into her brain.

Alice's room was dark and empty. The window was open, letting cool night air inside. And there was an ice white envelope lying on the bed in the centre of the room.  
Bella sat beside it and picked it up, dread already carving itself a home in her heart. There was a single word written on the envelope: 'Bella'. She tore it open and carefully pulled out a crisp piece of paper covered with Alice's neat handwriting, there were more envelopes inside the first but this letter was no doubt meant to be read before the others.

_'Bella,_

_I'm sorry. I know I promised I would never do this to you again, but you have to believe me when I tell you that I had to leave. There is nothing for me here, not any more. The best I can do is tell you where I'm going: Volterra. I am not being rash; I have been thinking of this for years. Years and years, but my courage always failed me._

_I haven't been there for you these past years, I should have been but I'm not sorry for that; I could see you were happy. I didn't want to ruin your fairytale_

_I will ask you not to follow me; it would be best for all of us if you stayed in Alaska with Edward. With your family._

_Goodbye, Cara mia._

_Alice'_

Bella felt tears of venom well up in her eyes as she refolded her letter; it seemed that she wasn't enough to keep Alice home. None of them were. A bolt of anger towards Jasper flashed through her heart; if Jasper had not gone Alice would not have left either. She returned to the first envelope and saw that inside there were more, smaller envelopes, each with the name of a member of the Cullen family written upon it.

Mechanically she got to her feet, flitting out of the room and down the stairs as fast as she dared.

In the living room everyone was dancing. Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, even Renesmee and Jacob. Edward was playing the piano, smiling happily as his fingers drifted skilfully across the ivory keys. That was why Bella had gone upstairs in the first place; Carlisle had noticed her sat alone and had suggested she dance with Alice. Now she had to break the picture of happiness. "Alice is gone." She muttered, the words were barely louder than the piano but everyone heard and stopped moving. The piano fell silent.

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Esme's eyes were concerned.

"Her room's empty, the window's open." A smile broke across the friendly face of the woman Bella loved as a mother.

"She'll have gone hunting. She'll be back soon, honey, don't worry." Even through the smile Bella could see that Esme didn't believe her words. The tears of venom threatened to spill from Bella's eyes.  
"Mom?" Renesmee's musical voice cut through her thoughts, she raised the envelope.

"I found this on her bed. There's a letter for each of us." Carlisle appeared at her side, taking gentle hold of the letters. Sorrow laced his gaze as he pulled his letter, easily thicker than the others, from the pack. He handed the rest to his family and fled to his study. "Edward? Why would she leave?" Her husband looked up from scanning his own paper, puzzlement etched onto his marble features.

"She didn't say?" He ran an exasperated hand through his bronze hair, messing it even further than before. "Nothing, no explanation, just apologies." Renesmee sobbed, salty tears falling onto her letter, smudging the delicate writing. Jacob pulled her into his arms, is own letter crunching in his fist.

Bella's keen eyesight caught sight of a single sentence of the werewolf's letter: 'You of all people must understand…' Why was Jacob allowed to understand when Bella herself wasn't even offered a chance to? Bella had thought she was the closest to Alice, closer even than Jasper sometimes.

"I want to go after her, I want to bring her back." Edward shook his head, a smile pulling at his lips; it looked more than a grimace than anything. He pulled her hands into his, forcing her to look at him through the tears she wouldn't let fall.

"She asked me not to, I'm sure she asked everyone the same. We have to honour her wishes." Behind him Emmett scoffed, brandishing his letter.

"She didn't let you go to Volterra, why should we let her? Ally doesn't want this, she only said she had to go. What did you do?" The bear-like man's eyes were overflowing with tears, and clear venom was slipping down his marble cheeks.

"Why do you assume it's his fault? It was Bella's last time." Rosalie muttered, folding her arms. Bella was shocked to see that even the blonde was crying, albeit silently. The blonde brushed her tears away fiercely. "She wouldn't just leave for no reason, not Alice."

"Well she has, and we're not accomplishing anything by fighting." Edward's voice was raised above everyone else's. "She's gone to Volterra, that's it." Bella pulled herself away from his grip, looking at him in horror.

"How could you just give up on her?" He looked down at her, and his eyes darkened slightly.

"Would any of you be reacting like this if it were anyone but Alice? If she were headed anywhere but Volterra? She's old enough to make her own decisions." Within a split second Esme was stood before her eldest son, eyes blazing.  
"Be that as it may she is still my daughter. And you Edward Masen Cullen are still her brother. There will be no fighting among you, because we are going to look for her. Am I clear?" Edward nodded stiffly, unable to look his mother in the eye. "Carlisle?" No one had seen the Cullen patriarch re-enter the room, and there was a collective intake of breath when they saw the sorrow radiating from his eyes.

"Emmett, Jacob and Rose. Come with me, she left her car here, so she can't have gotten too far." The doctor barely stopped to speak before he was merely a blur headed for the door, the trio following him without a second thought. Edward turned on his heel and stalked away.

"Mom? Why would Aunt Alice leave?" Renesmee's face was stained with warm tears as she buried her face in her mother's shoulder, but Bella didn't care; she needed the embrace as much as her daughter did. Usually the comforting hugs would come from Alice, no matter who was seeking them. But not now. Never again if the pixie-like vampire was truly gone.

"I don't know, Sweetheart. I don't know." Another pair of cool arms wrapped themselves around Bella and Renesmee; she turned her head slightly to see Esme. The older vampire wasn't crying; her eyes were fixed straight ahead, and somehow that was worse.

/

Edward wandered the house, lost in his thoughts. He didn't know what had made Alice leave her family. He didn't know what had made Jasper leave either. None of the family had reacted this badly when the Southern man had left, except Alice herself of course, but he couldn't help but think that was unfair. He loved Alice too, it hurt that she had left without giving an explanation, but he trusted that his little sister could take care of herself. And if she wanted to leave Alaska for Volterra, then so be it. He trusted her.

A beam of light caught his eye; Carlisle had left the light on in his study. Sighing Edward flitted along the corridor, pushing the solid wooden door open fully, letting the artificial light invade the hall. With one hand on the light switch, something else caught his eye: Carlisle's letter from Alice. Without to stopping to think, or to feel guilty, he snatched it up from the desk.

_'Carlisle,_

_Thank you for taking me into your family, into your home. I love you all don't ever think otherwise. You are the only father I have ever known; the only one I would ever want to know. So I am so, so sorry for doing this, you deserve so much more than a daughter who would abandon you in the night without saying goodbye._

_Don't blame Jasper; it's not his fault. It's no one's fault but my own. My own stupid fault for falling for someone else._

_I'm sure it doesn't take much detective work to know that the 'someone else' is Bella. It turns out that there's only so long one can take seeing the one they love in the arms of another before one begins to lose their mind. Twenty years, in fact. Please don't tell Edward; it would only hurt him and that's the very last thing I want to do.'_

Edward let the paper fall from his fingers back to the desk; he didn't want to read anymore. His sister had fallen for his wife. He supposed he should had seen it, there had always been a veiled thought in Alice's mind when she'd known Bella. Even when the girl was human. And they'd always been so close.  
How close? His mind whispered. How close had they been? Edward had always left Bella in Alice's care when he had to hunt. When she needed protection it had always been Alice he'd turned to.

Hearts were traitorous things, Edward decided, and Alice had left in order to keep hers in check. Pride welled in his heart for the girl, but he found that his sorrow at her leaving had dissolved. He was glad she had left, now. Glad that she had left rather than try to take his Bella away.

He cast one last glance at the letter before flicking the light switch, plunging the study into darkness. In the dark, he smiled, and walked away.

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Look guys a non-villain Edward :D Don't worry I'm as shocked as you are, my muse is sending me to the Doctor to get checked over :)


	3. II: Paradise City

Colour me surprised, pleasantly of course so perhaps a yellow, at all the reviews, I mean wow :)

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II: Paradise City

Alice wandered in the city of Volterra under cover of darkness. She had waited outside the city walls until the sun had begun to set; she didn't want the Volturi to catch her in daylight. Her visions had been coming in thick and fast in the days since she had left Alaska, and entering the city of vampires before the sun had set only ever ended in her death. Entering in darkness yielded only slightly better results, no matter which gateway she used. "Good evening, ma cherie." A friendly voice with a French lilt called to her from the darkness. "It is a beautiful time, don't you agree?" A young, lean man melted from the shadows, deep red eyes gleaming in the streetlights. His dark hair was long, pinned back by a silver clip, his features pale and chiselled. Alice let her eyes rove across his form; he wore a dark suit that allowed him to disappear into the darkness easily, but on his lapel was a gold pin in the shape of an intricate letter 'V'. The French man was Volturi. She relaxed her guard.  
"Yes, it is. A beautiful evening in a beautiful city." She locked golden eyes with ruby, looking up at the man with an impish smile. "Perfect hunting conditions, am I right, monsieur?" The man's eyes crinkled into smiles, his lips pulling back to reveal razor sharp, ivory teeth.

"A vampiress? No wonder I was so stricken by your radiance. May I ask your name, belle fille?" Alice cocked her head to the side, quirking an eyebrow at the man; it wasn't often she struck a rapport so neatly as with this vampire, and if her visions were not mistaken he could become a good friend. "Of course, where are my manners?" He swept into a deep bow, seizing one of Alice's hands and grazing his lips across the dainty knuckles. "My name is Victor Delize, at your service, mademoiselle."  
"Alice Cullen." Claret eyes twinkled as he looked down on her, releasing her hand only to caress her face with a calloused thumb.

"I assume you are not here for pleasure, Alice." She stepped back, out of his reach, drawing another bow from him. "I apologise for my…forwardness. I am not used to restraining myself around such beautiful creatures." Alice finally gave the tinkling laugh that had been brewing in her chest.

"No harm, no foul." Her family's motto fell from her lips before she could stop it, and then it was Victor's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "Victor, I would like to ask a favour." The Frenchman smiled and held out his hands in a gesture of acceptance. "Could you take me to Aro Volturi please?" The smile fell almost as if she had stricken him.

"Why would you wish to see him? He is not the kind of man you would wish to meet, my friend." Alice ran a hand through her hair, leaving it in its usual chaotic state, flashing him a smirk and just a glint of fang.

"Oh, Victor, but we've already met." When Victor returned her smile there was a hint of respect in his darkened eyes.

"Then I would be happy to be your white rabbit, Alice." He took her hand, gently this time, and began to lead her through the mazelike alleys of Volterra.

/

The journey to Aro's throne room was much shorter than Alice remembered. Maybe her 'white rabbit' had taken her a different route to Jane's all those years ago. Or maybe now that she wasn't terrified for Bella's life, time didn't seem to stretch on so much that the walk seemed like a funeral march. Maybe now that she was taking the walk of her own free will, it simply felt shorter.

She hadn't even cringed when she'd seen the human woman at the desk on her way in, a different woman to before, even though she knew the pretty blonde's fate. She could see it; just beyond the sight of her mind she could see the woman's rosy skin being torn by ivory fangs.  
Absently she noticed her guide had stopped walking. "This is where I must leave you, Alice. I wish you luck." Victor ghosted his cool lips across the back of her hand before released it. She winked one golden eye.

"I don't need luck, I can see the future." Victor gave a rich laugh and pushed the heavy wooden door open, holding it for her to pass. As Alice flitted inside he let it close with a snap behind her.

Inside the large marble room, Aro was sat in the centre throne, but the chairs that flanked it were empty. The whole room was empty except for Aro. As soon as his crimson eyes lit upon Alice he clapped his hands together, smiling in what could only be delight.

"Alice. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" His ancient eyes searched her face earnestly and she forced herself to smile back at him. The sight of one of the most powerful vampires in existence still set fear blossoming in her chest.

"I'm here to see if your offer still stands." Aro stood slowly, a frown pulling at his perfectly pale features.

"What offer, dear Alice?" He sounded almost breathless, but there was curiosity, pleasure and just a hint of greed there too.

"The offer of joining the Volturi." Alice forced her eyes to lock with the bloody crimson of the vampire lord's, and fought to keep her gaze steady as he paced, slowly, nearer.

"Why ever would you want to join us? Of all people I thought you would be the last to come here seeking a home." She could hold his eye any longer, and an involuntary flinch shot through her body as the door behind her opened again.  
"Aro, we have a situation." A confident, yet childlike voice echoed through the room. Alice didn't need to turn to know that Jane was stood behind her. Aro's eyes never flickered from Alice's, searching the golden pools for his answer.

"Take Alec with you and deal with it." He muttered, his own eyes darkening. Alice knew he was probably wishing for Edward's power, she winced; thinking of Edward was painful. A flash of wonder blurred through deep red and Alice knew that the other vampire had seen her wince.

"May I ask why a Cullen is here?" Jane was used to having Aro's undivided attention Alice knew that. She also knew that being ignored, by anyone, was not something the child put up with.  
"You may ask, but I believe you have a 'situation' to deal with." The vampire lord's voice was clipped, and a delicate hand raised itself, almost of its own accord, as if it wished to caress Alice's face. Alice tilted her head, exposing her throat, and the hand came to rest at the base of her neck.

Neither of heard the door slam as Jane left the throne room; they were both too lost in Alice's thoughts and memories. Flashes of home passed Alice's eyes; Bella and Edward's wedding, her divorce from Jasper, Nessie's birth, writing her letters, tearing up her letters, hugging Bella, writing the letters again. She broke away from Aro's touch gasping for breath that she didn't need. "I see." Sorrow laced his voice and features and Alice found herself feeling a kinship with the man.  
"Does the offer stand?" Her own voice shook slightly but Aro didn't appear to notice.

"The offer stands, Alice Cullen Volturi. The offer stands."

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Alice Cullen Volturi, I like it :)


	4. III: Leave Out All The Rest

I'm sorry for that massive gap in updates back there, I got caught up in NaNoWriMo and since then it's been outrageously hard to crawl into Bella's head. But that aside I'm back now and on we go...

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Bella unfurled her legs from beneath her and turned her treacle gaze from the setting sun. Shards of burning light shattered as they touched her skin, separating to cut through the air of her living room. Standing, the vampire girl cast a searching look around the room. Esme had built this cottage for her and her Edward. For Renesmee too, and Jacob who lived there with them.

But it had lost the life that had once emanated from the very walls. Bella sighed, rubbing pitch black eyes with the back of one hand. Since Alice had gone the cottage's life had been gone too. It was strange because the youngest Cullen had never set foot in the cottage since they'd moved from Forks. Her porcelain features twisted into a frown, as she wondered why she had never noticed Alice's isolation before. It should never have taken the girl's complete absence for her to realise that her best friend was avoiding her. "You really should hunt, Bells. It's been weeks." Bella half turned to see Jacob leaning against the doorway, watching her.

"I'm fine." She muttered. She knew she shouldn't blame Jacob for Alice getting away; it couldn't have been his fault. After all if Alice really wanted to leave, no one could've stopped her, not with her visions to aid her escape.

"You're not fine, Bells." He moved into the room, placing a hand on her shoulder. She pulled away from his touch, feeling as if it burned her. "Just go hunt, you'll feel better afterwards." His brown eyes were worried so she turned her gaze back to the setting sun.

"Will I?" Jacob removed his hand with a heavy sigh. "She's not coming back, is she?" She sounded ill even to her own ears so she could only imagine how she seemed to everyone else.

"No. No, she's not." Jacob sat beside her in the window seat, watching her with the soulful brown eyes she'd always taken comfort in. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring her back." Bella took an unneeded breath; it was as if he'd read her mind. She sighed; but he wasn't Edward. She supposed she should be grateful the werewolf had found her instead of her husband.

"It's not your fault, Jake." She passed a hand across her face, rubbing at her eyes and wishing she could sleep. "She'd have gotten away no matter who went to look." Bella didn't believe her words; Alice couldn't see Jacob in her visions after all, but she had to say them anyway.

"You don't believe that." It was Edward who contradicted her, walking into the living room as he finished wiping lion blood from his lips. "I don't even need to read your mind to know that you don't believe that." Bella kept her gaze fixed out of the window as if her silence could deny the words.

"It's not his fault." Edward was nothing but a blur as he crossed the living room to kneel before his wife, taking both of her hands into his. She forced herself to look at him, watching his dark eyes flood with gold.

"You're right; it's not his fault, Bella." Jacob coughed softly and got to his feet, leaving them as quickly and quietly as he could manage in search of Renesmee. "It's Alice's fault." Bella pulled her hands from Edward's grip, but he snatched them back, grazing a cold kiss across her knuckles. "You know this, Isabella. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you'll feel better." She knew he spoke the truth but she couldn't bring herself to admit it.

"I should hunt." She whispered barely loud enough for herself to hear, let alone Edward. "Do you know if Rose has been yet?" Her bronze headed husband stood, pulling her gently to her feet with their still joined hands.

"No. She should be leaving with Emmett any minute." Edward brushed yet another kiss against her forehead as he led her towards the doorway. "Do you want me to go with you?" It never took them long to reach the main house from their little cottage but she was always surprised when the large windows came into view.

"No. You go inside, I'll be fine." The next kiss was placed onto her lips but when she didn't respond to him he gave a soft sigh, stroking her cheek before flitting into the house. Bella felt bad for how she was treating her husband, but she was grieving, just like he should be. Grieving for Alice who for all they knew was dead.

"Bella." The surprise in Emmett's voice was palpable but a wide grin soon replaced his confusion as he ran over and pulled her into a close hug. She hadn't seen the other members of the Cullen family in a while, she smiled; Emmett's happiness was infectious.

"Hey, Emmett." She chuckled as he returned her to the ground. "You headed out hunting?" The giant boy cast a quick look to his wife who was glaring at Bella. Rosalie still held firm in her belief that Alice's leaving was her fault.

"Yeah." He marked a beat before looking back to Bella. "You want to come with?" They both heard Rosalie's frustrated sigh, and they both ignored it.

"As long as you don't mind." Bella was suddenly unsure of how good an idea going into the Alaskan wilderness with Rosalie was.

"Of course I don't mind." The familiar eyes danced with the ever-present devilish sparkle as Emmett swept her back into his arms and placed her gently atop his shoulder. "And Rose can't reach you up there." He was the first person to coax a real laugh from her lips since Alice had left and she found that that somehow dulled the ache from the Alice-shaped hole in her heart.

/

Edward watched his brother carry his wife into the forest at blurring speeds, Rosalie on his heels. He could hear the brunette's intoxicating laughter from his position at the living room window and he clenched his teeth. He didn't begrudge Bella happiness; he just wished to be the one who caused it. "Alice." He sighed his favourite sister's name but it came out as a soft whistle. He looked around, as if somehow hoping that the whistle would have summoned her to his side but found he was still alone in the large room.  
Only weeks ago he had been satisfied with Alice's departure, knowing that if she had stayed she could well have made a move for Bella's love. And possible won it. But now, now he knew better. Alice was gone, and somehow so was his wife's happiness. Carlisle and Esme hadn't been the same either; he had become withdrawn and Esme was bordering on overprotective with her remaining children. Emmett's happiness had a forced, almost strangled, tone to it and Rosalie still blamed Bella. Edward and Carlisle were the only ones who knew how right the blonde was.

Watching the sun finally disappear beyond the horizon Edward made a final decision. His family wanted Alice back, but none of them would go and make her return. He grabbed a nearby pen and dashed to Carlisle's study for a piece of paper.  
He would go and fetch her himself.

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Yes. I am sending Edward back to Volterra.


	5. IV: Learning to Fall

So Edward's headed to Volterra to bring Alice home? Let's see how well that one turns out shall we?

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Alice wandered the cool halls of the Volturi castle, her dark eyes wide with wonder even though she'd been there for weeks. She had barely seen Aro since the day he had accepted her into his guard but he had asked her to familiarise herself with her new home and that was what she had done. She had only left the castle at night to get to know the city outside a little better, and that was usually with Victor Delize at her side. She was supposed to be meeting the French vampire that evening but Jane had caught her mere minutes before she had left her quarters and informed her that Aro required her presence. "Alice." The now familiar lilting French voice reached her ears, moments before cold lips brushed across her knuckles.

"Victor." She replied with the same broad smile that she always did, pulling her hand from his grip as gently as she could. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a rain check." Victor shrugged lightly, as if he really didn't mind, but his crimson eyes were glinting with a curious light.

"C'est la vie." He smiled as he took a single step backwards. "May I ask who has taken your attention away from my efforts at seduction?" Alice grinned; the man was notorious among the Volturi vampires for his womanising ways, almost as notorious as she was for being a Cullen.

"You know it'll never work, Vic." He nodded his agreement, waving her on with a lazy hand. "And Aro has begged my audience." A worried glint entered the claret eyes.

"Be careful. Ma Cherie." He murmured letting his velvety voice caress the words as Alice passed by him, dancing down the hall towards the throne room.

"Always am, Vic. Always am." She put a swift spin into her walk to shoot him a wild grin, forcing an exuberance she didn't really feel.

Alice's visions had always been beyond her control but since she had left the Cullen household she had been plagued with the consequences of her choice. She had seen everyone's reactions to her departure and it had hurt her almost as much as staying would have.  
She shook her head, raven spikes of hair flying in every direction with the rapid movement as she tried to force the memories of the Cullen's despair. Fighting back the beads of venom from her eyes as Bella's face was the last to fade.

"Ah, Alice." Aro's voice filled with pleasured surprise even though it had been he who had asked for her company. Alice stayed quiet and made the customary journey to the aged vampire's throne and bowing her head. She could feel his paper thin smile as he pressed his icy lips to her forehead. It hadn't taken her long to realise that it was expected for any of Aro's guard to submit to the gesture, and even less time to realise that it was only half an affectionate gesture. The other half of the intent was to scan their minds. "You need to hunt, my dear." Alice closed her eyes; she'd known that the moment would come where her diet would be called into question. "You misunderstand me, Amante." One slender finger touched her chin, gently pushing her head back so she was looking into his face again. "If you wish to continue your vegetarian diet I have…procured a deer for you. If not; Lorna."  
Almost as if his reedy voice had carried out into the hall the blonde receptionist pushed the door open. She was shaking in her knee high boots; her heartbeat was irregular and Alice's mouth filled with venom as she imagined the sweet blood rushing through an intricate network of veins just beneath the perfectly pale skin. It took the series of hoof beats for her to realise the pretty blonde was leading a skittish stag by the rope that had been tied around his neck.  
Before she could make a choice the heavy doors opened again to reveal Jane. "I'm sorry, Aro." The girl didn't sound sorry at all and Alice frowned as a vision of Edward swam past her eyes only a millisecond before the man himself passed into the room, golden eyes shining.

"Edward." Her brother's name fell from her lips unbidden and she barely noticed Aro stepped forwards so that he was standing between the siblings.  
"How can we help you, my young friend?" Edward folded his arms.

"I'm here to take my sister home." Alice took an unnecessary breath; if it had taken most of her willpower to leave her family then it took all of it not to go back with Edward. "Alice?"  
"Your sister _is_ home, dear boy. I assure you that she came to me, not the other way around." Where Aro was his usual happy, almost calm self, Edward was positively vibrating with what Alice could only translate to be anger. Jane was hovering beside the door, forgotten, glaring daggers into the bronze-haired vampire's back. But she wouldn't dare attack. Not while Aro was present and without his express permission.

"I'll fight for her." Something snapped in Alice's head. Somewhere near the back her instinct for her own survival, her own peace came roaring back to life. In that single moment of clarity she realised that she could break Carlisle's golden rule. She'd done it before, admittedly it was before she'd met the man she'd come to call her father, but she had killed so many to slake her thirst. She had been born of insanity and christened in blood. It wouldn't be hard to go back and somehow she found that she wanted to.

"No. You won't." Her voice was small but strong, forcing her brother to stare at her in rampant disbelief. Aro however turned to send her a half smile. "I'm Volturi, Edward. And that's that." She tried to convey her apologies through her thoughts and prayed that he understood.

"Thank you for your concern, Edward, but as you can see your sister is perfectly safe here." Aro turned his back on the boy completely and Alice didn't need to be Jasper to read the frustration on her brother's porcelain face. "Now, my dear, you have a choice to make."  
"I told you. I'm not going back." Alice had made her decision and no amount of images with her family's faces could make her change her mind.

"I meant about your feeding, little one. What would you like to eat?" Crimson eyes glimmered with intrigue and greed but she was looking past the older vampire to stare into Edward's golden eyes. Fear had filtered into the familiar orbs but Alice knew he wouldn't give up. There was only one way to change the vision playing behind her eyes.

"Her." The rope leash of the stag fell from Lorna's nerveless fingers and the animal fled past Jane and through the still slightly open door towards a freedom it would never reach. Aro flourished a hand towards the pretty blonde, giving her to Alice with a grin of pride.  
The tiny vampire stalked over to the human, inborn instincts taking over as venom continued to flood her mouth. Lorna tilted her head to the side as soon as Alice reached her, trembling with fear even though the vampire needed to force the human to crouch slightly in order to reach her. She pressed her cold nose to the thin flesh of the woman's throat, savouring the smell before running her tongue across the spot where she could feel the quickened pulse beating at dangerous speeds. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she finally pressed her lips to the flesh before sinking her ivory teeth into the delicious blood of Lorna. The second the sweet blood touched her tongue Alice wondered how she had managed to abstain from human blood for so long; there was heaven in this taste. She took pull after pull of the sweet liquid, losing herself in the taste.

"I know that you love her." Edward's voice broke into Alice's nirvana. "Bella's distraught that you left her." His sister looked up, a deep orange flooding the black in her eyes.

"It was never Bella that I was leaving behind. She was _distraught_ when you left too." She released her grip on Lorna and began to pace towards her brother, hardly noticing when the human crumpled to the floor, barely breathing. "You think I haven't been scanning the future everyday to make sure she was ok? The only reason I missed you leaving for here is because I was watching her. I know she's _distraught_ and I know that she'll get over it. Just like she was getting over you until you pulled that stunt with the Volturi." She sounded bitter and she knew it but there was no need to block that feeling now that Edward knew.

"That wasn't my fault. I thought she was dead." Alice scoffed at his indignation.

"So did I." Aro watched the exchange with a curious frown pulling at his features.

"She thinks you're dead now."

"She thinks no such thing. Go home Edward." He didn't move, shaking his head slowly, pretending that his little sister's eyes were not slowly flooding with a deep ruby.

"Not without you." Alice shared a glance with Jane who flitted to Edward's side, taking a hold of the boy's arm. Aro's frown deepened.

"_Goodbye_, Edward." Jane pulled at the vegetarian's arm but Alice turned away, her eyes lighting back upon Lorna's prone form and a small smile pulling at her lips. "Excuse me for not seeing you out but my dinner's getting cold."

* * *

Yeah, didn't think that one would end well...although evil Alice sure has her merits...


	6. V: Misery Business

Aaand back to Bella. Lovely, you know that girl's head is not a place I like to spend a lot of time, and that's after I've made some modifications, so please excuse the shorter chapter.

* * *

Bella wandered the silent Cullen house at a painstakingly human pace. She was taking great care to remain at the slowest speed she could tolerate as she roamed the building. As soon as Edward had returned to them he had all but dragged Carlisle into his study and they hadn't been seen in the hour since. Esme had retired to the library, probably more in the efforts of hearing the conversation in the room below than any wish to read. Rosalie and Emmett were very definitely still in their bedroom and Renesmee was still out with Jacob.

Weeks ago Bella would have sought Alice to ride out the loneliness with her. As it was, on the fourth time she had walked around the entire house, she found herself at Carlisle's study door, and it was still closed. This time though, she knocked. "Come in." Carlisle sounded troubled, but she entered anyway, moving to stand beside her husband in the hopes that any conversation would continue. One of the patriarch's hands waved slightly, gesturing for his son to continue speaking. One of Edward's cold hands found Bella's, interweaving their fingers as he took an unnecessary breath.

"She chose the girl in the end. I think she did it was to spite me. I told her that I knew." Her husband sounded guilty, Bella frowned and looked up at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked, flinching inwardly when Edward turned tormented golden eyes onto her.

"Alice drank human blood. Aro offered her a deer but she chose the human." She felt the bottom drop from her stomach; the girl was alive but she was certainly gone. Alice would never have taken a human life simply to prove her choice.

"From what you say, Edward, she was in dire need of blood in the first place." Edward nodded, squeezing Bella's hand in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture. But Bella was too lost in thoughts of a new, crimson-eyed Alice who sent a shiver racing down her spine with merely a glance, for the gesture to be of any use. "Your presence may have kick started the choice, or maybe Alice believed that to truly be one of the Volturi she must drink human blood. Either way, my son, it was a clever ploy of Aro's to confront her with the choice at that moment."  
"I don't understand." Bella was glad that it wasn't just her who was having trouble understanding the doctor. Carlisle steepled his pale fingers in front of him and leaned forwards.

"Human blood always smells better than animal, wouldn't you agree?" Both Edward and Bella nodded slowly, drawing a smile from the man. "Then to be confronted with both when you are so hungry…" Bella understood now. When you are so thirsty that you feel like a newborn, it doesn't seem to matter what, or who, you feed from. As long as you feed. Any one vampire in existence would have chosen the human in that situation. Bella knew she would have. And by the look on Edward's face he would have too. The only exception to that simple rule must be Carlisle, he whose control was so perfect; he would be the only one to choose the deer. "Alice is safe. We must not seek her out again."  
"What if she wants to be sought out?" Bella countered softly. Edward had already turned to leave and pulled at her hand in an attempt to get her to follow him. Carlisle, however, was watching her with intrigued eyes.  
"What do you mean, Bella?" Edward tugged her a little more forcefully but she simply removed her hand from his without so much as shifting her gaze an inch from Carlisle's.

"She told us where she was going. Why would she do that if she didn't want to be found?"

"Because it was the only place she could go. There was no point in not telling us when it was so obvious anyway." Edward was the one to answer her, his voice only slightly sharper than his usual velvet tones.

"She could've gone to Ireland." She argued, still not looking at her husband. She could see the answering agreement in Carlisle's eyes even if Edward couldn't.  
"Not after Jasper she couldn't. She wouldn't go there, she wouldn't want to jeopardise his happiness." That did sound like Alice, Bella mused as an idea began to blossom in her head.

"Did she tell you why she left when you saw her? Did you ask?" Bella's eyes were focused on the window behind Carlisle by then so she didn't see the pointed glance that passed between father and son.

"No. I didn't ask and she didn't say." If Edward's voice had been sharp moments ago, now it was blunt. Hard as his marble flesh as it hit the air. It was the same tone he'd used to break up with her all those years ago in Forks.

"What aren't you telling me?" Finally she turned on her heel to look her husband in the eye. "You know something, don't you?" Not for the first time she wished she had his power so she could simply pluck the answer she desired from his labyrinthine mind. He avoided her eyes, looking over her shoulder to make eye contact with his father. "Don't you?" Edward shook his head but the gesture wasn't meant for Bella.  
"No." He muttered in the voice he used when his word was final. Usually Bella would submit to his wishes when he used that tone, but Alice joining the Volturi wasn't a 'usual' situation.

"Carlisle?" The Cullen patriarch looked down at his desk when the girl turned to face him, laying his hands flat on his desk before raising his head again to look at her.  
"No. He doesn't know anything." For some reason she didn't believe them. Either of them. Seemingly satisfied though, Edward turned on his heel and stalked from the room, stopping for only a second in the doorway to look at his wife.

"Let's go home. Nessie and Jacob should be back soon." He didn't stop to wait for her, rounding the corner into the corridor before he could see her turn back to Carlisle. The blonde vampire stood slowly, keeping their eye contact steady but not saying a word.

Bella opened her mouth to speak but the doctor placed a single finger against his lips, telling her to remain quiet. She did as she was bidden; watching him watch her as he slowly pulled a piece of paper out of one of the drawers in his desk. With a jolt Bella recognised the handwriting on it to be Alice's. Slowly, deliberately Carlisle placed the letter onto his desk and wandered out of his office, only taking his eyes off of Bella once he had passed her by.

Alone in the office Bella debated on reading the letter that Carlisle had so obviously left for her. She wondered briefly if Edward knew the contents, and deciding that he must, seized the letter from the desk, scanning the words hungrily for some reason as to why Alice would leave her family behind.

* * *

*Insert dramatic noise here* Well...Bella knows...struggling to decide if that's a good thing or not.


	7. VI: Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Alice has her first errand from the great Aro Volturi...

* * *

Alice's eyes were still that same burning crimson on her next visit to the Volturi throne room only a night later. She had come to think of it as Aro's office more than what it actually was, not having seen Marcus or Caius since her arrival in Volterra. The room was its usual echoing silence as she closed the door behind her, but she soon saw that she was anything but alone in the room.

Ignoring Victor and Jane was no easy task as she passed them by to stand before Aro, but receiving the customary kiss to the forehead, she wondered briefly if Victor was given one, and feeling the Volturi Lord smile against her icy skin soon told her she had done right.

"I am sure you three are wondering why I have called you here." The ancient vampire smiled his bright smile and Alice fell into line, standing between Victor and Jane in silence. No one answered Aro but his smile didn't even flicker. "I have found an errand perfectly befitting our young Alice." The newest Volturi member didn't need to be Jasper Whitlock Hale to sense the distaste that was positively radiating from the girl at her side. Or the pleasure emanating from Aro. Victor nudged her gently with his shoulder. "There is a young man. A newborn whose powers would be very useful to our order." He paused for an unneeded breath, possibly for dramatic effect. "This young man roaming Italy, named Julian, can manipulate a person's thoughts. Even their motives and, consequently, their actions. I believe that he is currently residing in an inn by the name of _Il Giullare Bracci_, in Verona. I wish for you to bring him here. Jane and Mr Delize are to accompany you." Suddenly Alice realised that he was speaking solely to her. She bowed her head slightly to show she understood, but raised it again to speak.

"How?" The single worded question set a victorious smile onto Jane's face, just as Alice remembered that a minion should never question their master. The process was simply the minion's to choose and put into motion.

"I would begin, my dear, with trying to entice Julian into our ranks." Jane's smile vanished and reappeared on Alice's lips. "If that does not work, I recommend a slight dash of force." She and Victor nodded dutifully, and at Aro's signal, turned to leave. Jane mimicked them silently. "Jane?" The vampire's power coated his voice as he called after the trio. "I would like this man alive if that is at all possible." Jane turned and offered a deep bow.

"Yes, my Lord." Alice had to suppress a giggle as she held the door for the child to pass. She shot Aro one final glance before she left, and saw an answering smile on his thin lips. If someone had told her a few months ago that she would one day feel at home within the walls of the Volturi, she would have laughed in their face. Now though, now she knew that they would have been right.

/

It was a short drive, shorter than Alice had thought it would be from Volterra to Florence. Made shorter with Victor Delize behind the wheel. She had thought that she drove at reckless speeds, but the French vampire made the journey in an hour. A whole forty minutes shorter than it should have taken them, had their driver obeyed the speed limits in place. But the time that had been shaved off of their journey by Victor's driving, was more than made up for in their search for '_Il Giullare Bracci'_. A name that Jane told them, rather shortly, translated to '_The Jester's Arms'_.

In all the trip hadn't taken them long, Alice mused as she pretended to drink the water before her. When the barman wasn't looking she tipped half of the glass into the potted plant next to her. Half, so that it looked like she was drinking the liquid, but the man couldn't offer her another.

She cast a glance to the other side of the room to where Victor was having an in depth conversation with a brunette. Jane had already reminded him twice that they were supposed to be working before she had left him for the barman. Jane was the reason he was no longer watching Alice suspiciously as the child drilled him for news of Julian, who was apparently 'out at the moment'.

The pixie-like vampire looked back towards Victor and his brunette. The brunette who sent images of Isabella Swan rushing through her mind. Swan not Cullen because the brunette was most assuredly human. As the memories became more and more enticing she forced herself to look away and, unconsciously took a large sip of the water in her glass.

The liquid was somehow cooler than her insides and sent her immediately into a fit of harsh coughs. Both Jane and Victor looked towards her an instant before the barman but she raised a slender hand and disappeared through the door beside the well-watered plant. Luckily for her there was a bathroom between the staircase and backdoor. She paid neither a glance as she flitted inside and voided her insides of the water it was no longer capable of taking in the nearest sink. Alice cursed herself for drinking the stupid water in the first place; she'd never done it before. Never. And she didn't know why she had done it today. She cursed again, and immediately felt a little better.

"Are you ok?" A soft, but unfamiliar male voice asked her. Alice pushed herself away from the sink, running the tap to remove the remnants of her mistake from the stranger's eyes. Eyes that she suddenly saw to be a dull ruby.  
"Sure." His eyes widened when she faced him fully and he saw that her eyes were also a deep shade of scarlet. "I'm Alice." She held out a slender hand at human pace, not wanting to startle him. He took it much faster than any human ever could, showing his ivory teeth in wide grin.

"Julian." He marked a bit. "I didn't know we could…throw up." Alice smiled awkwardly, putting a hand to the back of her neck.

"Only if we eat or drink something that's not blood." A quirked eyebrow. "Don't ask."

"Ok." Julian shrugged and leant against the door casually. "Are you one of the people that Jack told me was looking for me?" Alice cursed the barman silently, but nodded all the same. "Why?"  
"Your power." She decided that honesty would be the best policy with this man. Enticement could come later. "You caught the Volturi's eye and they're interested in you." She would see where curiosity would take them first. Julian's eyes took on a bright shine.

"The Volturi?" Good. The man had never heard any of the darker stories of the vampiric royals. That was very good. Alice mentally shook her head; she was starting to sound like Aro.

"The closest thing to royalty that vampires have. I'm part of the guard, so are my friends." 'Friend' was a bit of a stretch for Jane but it would have to do. "They want you to come back with us."  
"No strings?" He was smart, she'd give him that much. "If I decide not to join, your master's will let me walk away?" Alice doubted he would get to walk away if he outright defied Aro. Or if he simply refused Caius. Marcus probably wouldn't even care what happened to him.

"No strings." She settled for a noncommittal answer that was as ambiguous as she could make it.

"Not very specific are you?" Julian called her on it and, inwardly, she cringed. "Give me your word, and I will go with you." Alice spotted the loophole he had left open easily.

"You have my word." This time he nodded, satisfied, and turned towards the door.

"I would like to stay for the rest of the day, and leave tonight. If that suits you and your compatriots?"  
"Sure." Alice smiled as Julian left the room, still talking about how they would meet up at sundown; he hadn't asked her to put her word to his leaving alive, just for her word alone.

/

The orange lights of sunset lit the bar of _'Il Giullare Bracci' _more than the artificial lights ever could have, and they had forced Alice, Victor and Jane into a corner table that the light could not touch. The latter pair were conversing in low voices but Alice was staring into space. A vision was pulled at the edges of her mind but she was trying valiantly to keep it at bay as she tried to listen to her companions. She knew she would regret putting off the vision later; they always came in stronger when she denied them. And once, she had even been thrown directly into the event. That was an experience she was not eager to repeat. "Where is he?" Jane sounded impatient, her claret eyes flitting around the room in search of their quarry.

"He should be down any minute." Victor was acting as the calming influence but judging by the look on Jane's cherubic face, he wasn't succeeding. He changed tack, turning to Alice instead. "Alice, you should take him out to the car, we'll follow on behind." Victor's voice echoed strangely in her ears. "Alice?" She stopped seeing the sunlit bar and froze in her seat. The sound of her name resonating through her skull.

_She was in Carlisle Cullen's office now, standing before his desk and the sun was no longer setting. Alice didn't know when this was taking place but she could see her pseudo-father taking a letter from his desk. A letter that she had written to him what seemed like a lifetime ago. He put his finger to his lips and for a second she thought he could see her, but then she looked directly behind her and saw Isabella Cullen._

_Suddenly she knew what the doctor was planning and she yelled her denial of it. The sound echoed eerily but neither heard her. Carlisle walked away and Bella reached for the letter, her hand passing completely through Alice's chest as though she wasn't really there.  
Of course she wasn't really there, Alice realised. This was her vision and nothing she could do could stop Bella from reading the words on the page that was now in her delicate hands. Alice wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and ears until this was over, but something wouldn't let her. _

_She was forced to watch the shock unravel on Bella's face. Forced to hear the gasp of denial? Disbelief? Wonder? Fall from her lips. She had to watch the letter fall from the brunette's slackened grip onto her father's desk. But she could only hear her flee the room as angry tears of venom threatened to blind her._

The wooden table hissed in protest as the vampiric tears fell onto its surface and it was that sound that heralded both Alice's return and Julian's arrival. The newborn was carrying a large suitcase and faking a slight struggle with it but both Jane and Victor were watching Alice.  
"Are you ok?" Victor murmured. Alice shrugged, wiping the tears from her cheeks roughly and getting to her feet, leading Julian away without even introducing him to the others. She had been stricken with a sudden need for Aro's company. Aro would understand.

* * *

I was going to give a nice scene with Aro but I like the idea of ending it there better. What do you think?


	8. VII: If Everyone Cared

Bella lay in the centre of the king sized bed that she shared with Edward, staring at the ceiling with sightless golden eyes. It had been hours since she'd read the letter; the sun had fallen outside and it was the moon that bathed her in its light as she dwelled on the words. '_…falling for someone else…' _Alice had fallen out of love with Jasper, that much was apparent and it certainly made much more sense with their divorce being so…polite, happy almost. It had confused Bella then, but not now she knew. She placed a pale arm across her eyes; she should have gotten Alice to talk about the divorce even if the girl didn't want to talk to her.  
'_…the 'someone else' is Bella…' _of course Alice hadn't wanted to talk to her. The avoidance made sense too now. It still stung, of course, but Bella understood it now; she'd have avoided herself if she'd be falling for her too. She certainly wouldn't have wanted to talk about her divorce from a man she'd pledged her life to with the reason for said divorce. Bella spent a brief second wondering if either Alice or Jasper blamed her for the collapse of their marriage.

'_…only so long one can take seeing the one they love in the arms of another before one begins to lose their mind…' _was that why Jasper had left for Ireland? Was seeing Alice in love with her so painful that he'd had to flee to another country to escape it? Being in love with her was too painful for Alice to stand after all.  
She growled to the empty room, throwing herself off of the bed and flitting over to the window to watch the moon and its harem of stars. It was a comforting sight; the sky was clear in Alaska and each and every star that shone above them could be seen shining bright. She wondered if the stars were this clear in Italy…or in Ireland.  
"Bella." The earthy smell of werewolf caught in her throat milliseconds before the rich voice reached her ears. "Can I come in?" Her eyes narrowed; Jacob had never asked to enter a room with her in before. Not even when they were both human.  
"Sure." She muttered, knowing perfectly well that he would hear her if she only whispered the word to the wind. She also knew why her childhood friend was here; he was worried, they all were. He started almost every conversation the same way now. She was acting the same way that she did when Edward left her alone, but only Jacob knew that. Only Jacob and Alice could know that.  
The wooden door opened slowly and a slender body slipped inside, quickly and silently followed by Jacob's much larger form. Bella didn't turn around; the scent tugging at her memory was easy enough to place without turning. Renesmee was there too.  
"Hey, Mom." The half vampire's voice was coloured by a strained smile, forcing her mother to turn and offer one back. "Are you ok?"  
"Of course, honey." Bella's smile was starting to make her dead facial muscles ache, but she refused to let it fall. Jacob took a seat on the bed and folded his arms, watching the exchange carefully.  
"I know why Aunt Alice left." The doe brown eyes flickered first towards Jacob and then down to the floor. Bella felt the bottom drop from her heart; her daughter had known. That could only mean that Jacob had too. Suddenly Bella knew what Alice had meant in her letter to the werewolf; about how he must understand. "Jake said that we should tell you…if you wanted to know." She was giving her a way out Bella realised. Renesmee knew she wouldn't take it, but she was handing her one anyway. She felt a jolt of frustration towards the pixie like girl who'd caused all of this. The girl who'd put the insecure look onto her daughter's perfect face.  
"It's ok, sweetie. I already know." Two sets of brown eyes instantly homed in on her face. Probably trying to discern whether or not she actually knew the real reason or not.

"You knew? And you let Dad go after her?"  
"I didn't know then. I didn't know until afterwards." She marked a beat. "What does Edward going after her have to do with anything?" Bella could almost feel the incredulousness radiating from the pair when the answer hit her mind like a bolt of lightning. She suddenly remembered her husband's 'talks' with Jacob back when she was human and the boy had thought he'd imprinted on her. Remembering the threatening behaviour, words and sometimes attacks. "Oh."  
"Yes, Bella. Oh." Jake rolled his eyes, running a hand through his already spiky hair.

"He wouldn't hurt Alice." If Bella knew just one thing, it was that Edward would never lay a finger on his little sister. Alice was his favourite sibling, everyone knew that. He wouldn't hurt her. Not on purpose at least. "Never."  
"You sure?" Bella turned away, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked up at the moon.  
"You shouldn't talk about your father like that." She muttered without facing her daughter and finally let the painful smile fall from her lips, having half forgotten that it was even there.  
"You're not are you?" Renesmee took a step away from her mother, brown eyes wide with horror. Jacob immediately pulled her into his warm arms, letting her lay her head against his chest. "Mom…"  
"He wouldn't hurt Alice." Bella had no idea how much she actually sounded like her husband in that moment, but it was enough for her companions to share a half stunned, half worried glance behind her back. "And he didn't."  
"We want to make sure." Jacob finally blurted the reason for their visit to Bella. They didn't need her blessing to seek out Alice and they weren't going to ask for it; they just wanted her to know that they were going. Jacob didn't want a repeat of 'The Great Depression' as he had dubbed her behaviour after Edward's departure.  
"Alice isn't going to come back." Bella surprised herself by finally saying it aloud as she turned, her golden eyes shining with a stubborn glint.  
"You were the one who wanted us to go after her." Renesmee extricated herself from Jacob's embrace and crossed her arms in a perfect imitation of her mother. Jacob had to swallow a chuckle at the resemblance between the two.  
"You can't go to the Volturi alone. They'd kill you."  
"Alice wouldn't let them." The younger brunette was positive of that. There was no way that Alice Cullen would ever hurt her or Jacob, Volturi or no.  
"You sure?" Her mother echoed her words from only minutes ago.  
"Yes." Bella sighed, looking between her friend and her daughter.  
"Have you told Carlisle?" Jacob nodded. "Then I'll go with you."

/

Edward Cullen watched the three shadows flee into the dark of the woods from the window of Carlisle's study. He had found the letter still lying open on the desk, and he knew that his wife had read it. Knew that his wife had learned of his sister's love for her. He didn't need to be within range of reading her mind to know that she was headed for Volterra. For Alice. But he did need to know _why_.

Jacob and Renesmee were with her and he could only assume that they both knew. He gave an angry sigh. It figured that the wolf would know; he and Alice had so much in common now, after all.

He made himself turn away from the window, tucking the letter safely back into its envelope and placing it in the drawer of his father's desk. It wouldn't do for everyone to know. As far as he was concerned it had never happened; Alice was still in love with Jasper, or Aro if it pleased her, and had fled to the Volturi for no more reason than this.  
So he watched the trio of dark figures disappear, feigning an air of detachment as he turned his back on them and the window. He flicked the light of the study off and closed the door behind him as he sought out his family.  
He would follow in the morning.

* * *

Ok, even I'm starting to get a little annoyed at Bella.


	9. VIII: Sink or Swim

Well...I apologise profusely for the delay but here we go...

* * *

The very moment that Alice wandered into the Volturi throne room Aro raised his head to look at her instead of the young vampire that was knelt before him, giving a report from whatever task the Volturi lord had set him. Aro smiled and waved a hand, cutting off the nameless young man mid-flow and gesturing for him to leave. "My dear, what can I do for you this morning?" Alice couldn't stop her lips curving into an answering grin, her ruby eyes sparkling as she sketched a deep bow.

"You didn't have to send him away, I could wait." Aro laughed, his reedy voice echoing slightly. He stood and swept across the room and by the time she had straightened from her bow, he was stood right before her.

"Dear one, you should not have to wait." It was strange how much Aro had apparently taken to her since she had arrived in Volterra. It was even stranger that she found that she actually didn't mind; he'd been her one lifeline when she'd cut ties with her family and it was nice of the lifeline to hold her back. "Now, what can I do for you?" She looked at the floor, shifting her feet as she thought back to the vision of Bella reading the letter addressed to Carlisle. She may have had the vision a matter of days ago but it still shook her a little just thinking about it.

"Bella read Carlisle's letter." Aro's eyes softened immediately and he placed the tip of his index finger against her chin, raising her head until she was looking directly into the twin rubies set in his porcelain face. He wasn't using his power to see the vision himself; he was just…touching her chin. She'd been surprised the first time he hadn't used his power; she hadn't realised that his control was so near perfect, but then, after living for a couple of centuries it would be more surprising if he hadn't mastered his power.

"How did she react?" If anyone were to walk into the throne room at that moment it was entirely possible that they would think Aro was having an affair with the pixie-like girl. The way he held her and the softness of his voice were out of character enough, but the tenderness on his normally blank face would be more than enough to tip the scales in favour of the 'affair theory'.

"She dropped it and ran." Alice remembered the gasp; excessive thinking at all hours of the day and night had brought her to the decision that Bella's involuntary breath had been one of shock mingled with a dash of mild horror and a generous dose of panic. "Fast."

"We all run fast, dear one." Aro's teeth flashed as he grinned at his own joke. The grin only grew wider when Alice let a soft chuckle rattle through her chest. "It may not be as bad as you think." She quirked an eyebrow. "May I?" That was another thing that was out of character for Lord Aro Volturi; he very rarely asked permission to read someone's mind. It was yet another check mark among the Volturi vampires who saw her coming and going from the throne room more often than even Jane for the 'affair theory'. She pretended she didn't hear it when she wandered the halls, and when outright confronted with the question, blatantly ignored the asker.

"Of course." Alice expected him to simply activate his power through the hand that still rested against her chin, but instead, he lowered his thin lips to her forehead and laid a gentle kiss there, as he would almost anyone, and read her mind through that contact.

Images of Carlisle handing Bella the letter confessing Alice's best kept secret flashed through her brain and into Aro's. The older vampire withdrew when it became apparent that the vision came like a memory; from Alice's own eyes.

"Does this happen often in your visions?" If Alice could blush she knew that she would have. She shook her head.

"Only when I try to resist one and then it's rare." A curious noise rumbled in Aro's throat and this time he kissed her on the nose to finish the vision. While Aro was lost in the vision of Bella and the memory of Alice's return to normal, Alice herself was thrown into another, different vision.

So when Aro drew back again she knew he would be giving her a sympathetic look for what he had seen. She also knew that the next kiss would be placed on her lips.  
It wasn't a romantic kiss, or a passionate one. It just _was_. It was a gesture of comfort rather than love and Alice simply could not help smiling against the thin lips of the Volturi lord.

"Alice?" The one voice that Alice least expected to hear broke through the haze that Aro's power always left swirling in one's mind and she, almost reluctantly, broke the kiss with the Volturi leader. Turning she saw Bella, Nessie and Jacob stood, framed by the doorway, shock written across all of their features. Behind them she could just make out Victor Delize who had merely raised an eyebrow at the sight of Alice and Aro's.

The very second that Alice's dark red eyes connected with Bella's glimmering gold she felt as if she were in widdendream. She swallowed, took an unnecessary breath, and pretended that she could see Aro watching the scene before him with something like curious rapture on his face.

"Bella. Hi." She swallowed again, wishing that the mere sight of the girl didn't send kamikaze butterflies, or possibly moths, fluttering in her stomach. She also wished that the brunette wasn't stood in the room as her, that she hadn't seen her kissing Aro, or rather Aro kissing her. But none of the wishes were like to come true, not in this life at least, so she set to plastering a benign smile on her lips, ignoring the taste of fresh human blood that Aro had left on them. "Nessie, Jacob…how are you?"

"I'm afraid you will have to excuse us; we were not expecting guests." Alice almost laughed aloud at the casual tone that Aro was insisting upon using and the faint looks of awe bred with revulsion that it drew from the vegetarian, the wolf and the half-breed.

"I could see that." Nessie crowed, racing across the room to launch herself into Alice's arms. "You're ok." Alice stumbled as she caught the girl but held her close; grateful that she, at least, was accepting of her choice to leave the Cullen clan. And it would seem that the girl was accepting of Aro too, although she was probably reading her memories as they embraced.

"I'm always ok, Ness." Alice planted a kiss in the half-vampire's hair and looked up to see Jacob grinning at her. Seconds later both she and Renesmee were pulled into the werewolf's excruciatingly warm arms.

"I hate to break the moment, my dear, but Bella just left the room." Alice extricated herself from the uncomfortably warm embrace and looked at Aro with inquisitive red eyes. "It's ok; go after her." When she hesitated, looking between the now empty doorway and her other visitors, Aro chuckled. "No harm will come to these two, I promise. Not unless it is by your hand." Alice smiled her thanks before flitting from the room, following her nose in search of Isabella Cullen., exactly as she had promised herself that she would never do again.

* * *

Ok, you caught me; I've been dying to write that scene since I started this fic :)


	10. VIIII: Before the Worst

Another chapter with the bumbling Isabella Cullen...

* * *

Bella had fled the room barely a second after her daughter had flown into the estranged girl's arms. She didn't know exactly why she had left in the first place, didn't know why she had given up her first glimpse of Alice's smile in months for the stone courtyard that she had found herself in. She sat slowly on a half wall between two pillars and closed her eyes, opening them only a second later because the image of Alice kissing Aro's lips was still burned into her brain, and her heart had yet to return to its rightful place after seeing it the first time.

Why did seeing Alice kissing someone else bother her? Or was it just because it was _Aro_ she had been kissing? Was it because she had just found out that Alice had loved her for over twenty years but suddenly she was with Aro? Or a combination of all three?  
Bella sighed heavily, ignoring Jane as she half-walked and half-ran by, back the way Bella had half-ran from only minutes ago. It seemed that the child was in too much of a hurry notice the Cullen in the stronghold but Bella wasn't going to complain about that; she already had enough to think about. "How do I keep getting myself into these situations?" She grumbled, glad that no one was around to hear her acting like a child.

"An amazing knack for finding trouble?" A soft voice answered her, sending her silent heart leaping out of her cold chest. She looked up to see Alice leaning against the pillar to her right, watching her with crimson eyes. Those eyes sent an involuntary shiver rolling down her spine, not of fear; she could never be afraid of Alice, but of intrigue. It was as if the splash of vibrant colour against the ice of her skin and the night of her hair sparked something in her head. Something that the warmth of honey eyes never had. "You read Carlisle's letter." It wasn't a question or an accusation. It was simply a fact and Alice made it sound as if she was talking about the weather.

"He gave it to me." Bella realised she sounded defensive in the same moment that she realised the fact that if Alice knew she had read the letter she knew both what had happened in the moments before and the moments after."You didn't want me to know?" Alice gave her old tinkling laugh but it was somehow wrong when her eyes were red and a Volturi necklace shone against her black jacket.

"What was your first clue, Bells? Was it the avoiding or the leaving?" Bella flinched at the bitterness in the other girl's voice, although she assumed she'd be a little bitter in her place. "I'm sorry; that, that was uncalled for." She forced a smile. "What brings you to Volterra? Can't have been the weather."

"You did." Something flickered in the ruby eyes, as if she didn't believe her but desperately wanted to, and Alice finally broke eye contact. "We miss you- _I_ miss you." One small hand moved as if of its own accord to tuck a strand of Bella's hair behind her ear.

"I'm right here, Bella." For a second it was as if her eyes were tawny gold again, smiling down at her with all the warmth of the sun but then they were red and the warmth was uncomfortable.

"No, you're not." She didn't know where the words were coming from and it occurred to Bella in that moment that she didn't really know a lot of things.

"Bell…"

"I'm still your sister but you're not my Alice anymore." A crooked grin stole its way across Alice's face making her suddenly seem so much like Edward that it was hard for Bella to believe that they weren't actually related.

"I'll always be your Alice but you were never a sister to me because I always loved you so much more than a simple sister." Bella frowned; it was one thing to read the words in a letter but entirely another to hear them in Alice's silken voice. "And you want to know the best part, Isabella?"  
"Sure." She was too caught up in the moment to even think of chastising the pixie for using her full name. Part of her brain, though, liked the way it sounded from Alice; it sounded safe somehow.

"I always knew it would end up here if I ever let myself care this much about you. I told myself that I would let Edward have his happiness and I could just be your friend." Alice caught her eyes again and this time the twin rubies wouldn't let her go. "But there's something about you, Isabella, which pulls people in. Mike, Tyler, Edward, Jacob and me, we never stood a chance because there's something about you that catches hold of people's hearts and drags them in until they've fallen too far to climb back out again." Bella tried to look away but the raw emotion in her husband's sister's eyes was hypnotising.

"Alice, I…"

"And don't you dare apologise because falling for you is one of the best sensations in the world." She stopped to give a sad smile. "It's the concrete at the bottom that gets you." Bella was suddenly stricken with the desperate need to be near to Alice and stood to pull her into an impossibly close hug, reacquainting herself with the scent that was purely Alice until the shorter vampire pulled away. "How is Edward, by the way?" Bella didn't want to talk about her husband, it seemed wrong somehow to even think of him when she was looking into Alice's unfamiliar eyes.

"Do we have to talk about him?" The pixie shrugged but didn't make any attempt to suggest a new topic. It was as if she was forcing herself to remember that Bella was married. "Where are Marcus and Caius?" Bella had assumed that Aro and Alice had wanted some privacy but surely they had bedrooms somewhere in the fortress? There had been no real need for the other Volturi lords to leave.

"I don't know. I haven't seen them at all while I've been here." That was strange but more importantly it was a conversational dead end and Bella needed something that could divert the focus.

"You and Aro, huh?" She eventually decided on a slightly less awkward topic than Alice's letters and earned herself an incredulous look from the girl in question.

"We're not…that wasn't…he was looking at a vision I'd had. He's very…tactile, I guess he just wanted to comfort me. But that's not a usual occurrence and it won't be either." Bella didn't think she'd ever heard Alice flustered and it was hard for her not to laugh as she stumbled through an explanation.

For some reason Bella's heart felt lighter now and she couldn't keep a small smile from her lips. Not even when, without thinking about it, she placed a kiss onto Alice's cheek.

"I think we should go back; we don't want to keep dear Aro waiting." Alice gave a playful swipe towards Bella who danced out of the way giggling before running towards the throne room. This time Alice followed her happily.

* * *

Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that the ectoplasm's about to hit the fan? Oh, yeah; because that's how it usually works when I'm in charge :)


	11. X: Anthem of the Angels

Aaand introducing, without further ado, Edward 'Sparkles of a Killer' Cullen in all of his ... 'glory'

* * *

Alice pushed the double doors to the throne room open with a flourish, watching Bella with a sparkle in her eyes that she had thought lost. She had no idea how she had managed to leave the brunette months ago; her mere presence was intoxicating. She had once thought that the girl had another power, besides her shielding ability, or maybe it was just Alice who was so affected by the girl.

Bella had stopped dead the moment the doors had swung open and Alice frowned, spinning to look into the room and dreading the thought that something had happened to Nessie or Jacob; it would be her fault if it had. All her fault. But as she looked inside Jacob grimaced at her and Nessie gave a small wave. Aro looked slightly sheepish, which was a strange expression on the eccentric man, and before him stood a familiar bronze headed vampire. Edward was here.

"Alice, Bella." He turned with a wide smile that somehow made Alice want to flee. It was as if he were the predator and she the vegetarian. "How nice of you to join us." She didn't need a vision to tell her that this meeting was going to end anything but well.

"Edward, it seems, was separated from his family on the trip to visit you." Aro's eyes locked with Alice's and she could tell that he knew as well as everyone else did that that was a lie. "Do you wish for me to give you some privacy?" She had heard that phrase from his lips only once when a young vampire had become infatuated with Jane. He had offered privacy which she had accepted. Minutes later he returned with half of his guard and 'removed the man from the premises'. It was a subtle offer for assistance.

"No, thank you, Aro." Alice bowed her head to show she had understood, leading Bella fully into the room now. "I don't believe they'll be staying long." Edward's eyes were fixed on Bella's face, his sister knew he was here to reclaim what was his and, no matter how much she wanted to argue that a person was not something you could own, she had to let him. For her own good.

"What do you mean?" There was a touch of hurt in Bella's voice and she felt the question bruise her heart just a little more. It really was a stroke of luck that Alice's heart was no longer tasked with distributing blood to her body; there wasn't enough duct tape in the world to patch up the cracks. "You're not coming home?"  
"This is her home now, Isabella." Behind Edward, Nessie sought comfort in Jacob's arms. Alice was glad that at least one person had a pure love that would never dream of doing anything other than what was best for them. "And we should all leave her be."  
"We wanted to make sure she was ok." Jacob's voice was laced with an accusation that Edward would've had to have been deaf not to pick up on. But Edward ignored him, his eyes still focused solely on his wife; it was as if he were trying to break through her shield by force of will alone. Nessie stepped out of her husband's protection, closer to her father.

"Dad. I want to stay here a while." That got the bronze haired man's attention; he whirled around to face his daughter. Alice had only seen the first flash of gold but she had no doubt that his eyes were blazing, but Nessie held his gaze.

"This is the Volturi, Renesmee. Any one of these people would gladly kill you." The half-vampire tilted her head slightly and Alice found herself sharing a smirk with Jacob across the room. Aro cleared his throat.

"No harm would befall your daughter within these walls. She is Alice's family and will always be welcome here. The same would be true of both Bella and Jacob." It didn't escape Alice's notice that Aro had not extended the invitation to Edward.

"Thank you." Nessie gave the Volturi lord a bright smile which was easily returned. Alice grinned at the exchange, glad that Aro seemed to genuinely like Renesmee.

"Yeah, thanks." Jacob grinned, resting one hand on his wife's shoulder and it was more an attempt to rile Edward than anything else.

"Fine. Bella, we're leaving. I'll deal with you two when you get home." Alice cringed when Edward turned back to her; his eyes weren't aflame any more, they had cooled to twin golden stones that glittered coldly as he walked towards them.

"I don't want to." It was a rare occurrence that Bella would speak against her Edward and it showed; the second she spoke the words she looked away from him so she wouldn't have to see his features darken, but only for a second. If Alice hadn't known him for nigh on a century she would be certain that she had imagined it.

"Bella. Esme and Carlisle were worried when you left, they'll be relieved to see you." Alice gritted her teeth, instantly seeing through her brother's game. Her eyes darkened to the exact shade of blood as they locked with Aro's. The ancient vampire inclined his head, giving his silent approval of any action that she should make.

"You can tell them that I'm staying with Alice for a while. Renesmee and Jake too. We'll be ok." Bella forced a smile which Edward didn't return. "Edward, we'll be ok." Alice wished that the brunette knew his first concern right then wasn't her well-being.

"_Staying with Alice_." Her brother's tone was a cocktail of anger, scorn and jealousy. The pixie flinched when his eyes landed on her again. "Not quite finished having your fun together then? I suppose it _is_ her turn after all. You see, Aro, every time someone confesses their love to my dear Bella, she gives them a little _something_ to remember her by. Isn't that right Jacob?" Alice clenched her fists until her nails tore jagged tears into her porcelain flesh, letting crimson beads of blood run across her palm and drip onto the marble floor.

"Edward!"

"Dad!" Mother and daughter's cries mingled together in the high ceiling. Aro stepped forwards, positioning himself between Renesmee and her father, holding his hands palm up. A peaceful gesture.

"Mr Cullen, I believe it would be best if you left us now. I promise you that no harm will come to your family while they are our guests here. Good day." Edward cast only a single glance over his shoulder before putting a hand onto Bella's forearm.

"You heard the man, let's go home." He tried the crooked grin that had always charmed the girl but it came out wrong and when she tried to pull her arm from his grip he held on tighter.

"Let go, Edward, I'm not going with you." His grip tightened again and he used her arm to pull her close to him.

"Let's. Go. Home." Bella's arm was twisted at a strange angle that could not have been comfortable and his fingers were leaving tiny cracks in her bare arm. Something inside Alice's head snapped.

"Take your hand off of her." The words were a guttural snarl that could not belong to Alice Cullen. That voice belonged solely to Alice Volturi, red eyes smouldering and hot venom pooling in her mouth. Edward gave her a dark smile.

"Isabella is my wife, Mary Alice. I have more right than anyone to lay my hands on her." Bella winced as his blunt nails caught against one of the hair thin breaks. Nessie cried out and twin growls rumbled through the air; one from Alice and one from Jacob.

"You're hurting her. _No one_ has that right." Every muscle in her body was positively vibrating with anger. "Let go." His smile turned grim and sorrow joined the maelstrom of emotions in his topaz eyes.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd like me to let go of her." Suddenly Alice couldn't take anymore; one hand shot out, lightening fast, and took hold of his throat, using that grip to throw him to the ground. She placed a knee against his chest, pressing against it until she heard the creak of his ribs and then leaned down to hiss in his ear, ignoring the doors opening behind her.

"Never, you _never_, lay a hand on her in anger again." She wanted to kill him. She wanted to take the book of matches from her pocket and set light to her brother's flesh. The only thing that stopped her was the sound of Bella being taken into Jacob's arms and sobbing into his chest. "Do you hear me?"

"Alice?" Aro was calling to her but she pretended she couldn't hear.

"I said, _do you hear me_?" Edward nodded slowly, grudgingly and she released the pressure on his chest, letting him breathe again. Vampires may not need the oxygen, but being suddenly denied of it was still an uncomfortable experience. She stood, but didn't offer him the hand she would an honourable opponent. "Yes, Aro?" Jane was stood by him now, one pale eyebrow arched at the scene before her.

"I am sure you will have noticed that Marcus and Caius have not been present in a while. This is because a group of vampires have taken them in the hopes that that would weaken the Volturi's rule." Alice could see what the nameless vampires were thinking when they decided this, but she wondered why they had left Aro free. "Finally, we have located them. I wish to ask for your help in retrieving them." Alice smiled, knowing full well that if she were anyone else it would have been an order rather than a request.

"I am part of your guard, Aro. Of course I'll help." Aro swept closer and placed a soft kiss against her forehead, smiling in gratitude.

"Thank you, my dear. We will be leaving at sunset. Our guests are still welcome to stay, of course, until we return."

* * *

Ugh; she should've killed him. Alice, I'm disappointed.


	12. XI: If God Could Talk

Ok. I've forgiven Alice for not killing Edward now that I realised she did have a good reason. As to what that reason is you're going to have to wait a while because right now it isn't actually relevant :)

* * *

Sunset came quicker than even Alice could foresee and for nearly a half hour before the sun disappeared completely beneath the horizon the Volturi forces had been gathering in the shadows of Volterra. There was almost a full battalion with Jane at its head and another, smaller one, headed by Victor Delize. Alice herself was stood beside Aro with a small squadron of Aro's guard. They were leaving only a section of their number behind to look after the city in their absence.

They were waiting for the orange light to fade so that they could break cover without exposing their secret. The darkness would also offer better conditions for a full scale battle if need be. Alice couldn't help but commend Aro's plan for the rescue attempt. "Alice?" A clear voice called her name and she didn't have to see the speaker to know that it was Bella. She didn't move as she craned her neck in search for her brother's wife. After nearly a whole minute she spotted her on the outskirts of Victor's group; there was no way for her to get closer.

"Go on; you have time yet." Aro's unneeded breath was cold on her neck and she shivered as she shot him a grateful smile; she would've hated to die not having said a proper goodbye. Not that dying was likely with some of the most powerful vampires in existence at her back. She pushed through the crowd with ease; many of them simply stepped out of her path, knowing who she was. Had she not been so intent on getting to Bella she would have stopped to remind everyone that they had nothing to fear from her but then she remembered how easily she had removed the annoyance Edward had posed and had to wonder.

"Alice." Bella slipped her arms around Alice's waist, drawing a smile from the pixie as she breathed in the other girl's scent, determined to come back to her, even if it was just for a while until Bella returned to Alaska. "Edward says he's sorry." At the mention of her brother Alice's warm feelings disappeared.

"I'm sure he does." She muttered darkly pulling away but bringing Bella's arm with her to better examine the hair thin cracks in the porcelain flesh.

"It's ok, Alice; I've had worse." Cold rage resurfaced and the matchbook in her pocket suddenly felt as it were burning a hole there.

"I should've killed him." Realisation sparked in golden eyes and Bella grasped both of Alice's delicate fists in her hands.

"Not from Edward. Remember James? Tyler's van? That cliff?" The red-eyed girl chuckled a little at the last example, letting her fists relax into Bella's touch. "That was the first time that Edward has ever laid a hand on me. And the last. You think he could've gotten away with it without you knowing? You see everything." Alice shook her head in protest to the blind belief that Bella seemed to have in anyone.  
"Not everything."

"You'd have seen that." The brunette had much more faith in Alice than she, herself, did. The pixie removed her hands from the other girl's grip, determinedly but reluctantly.

"You came out here to apologise for Edward?" Bella almost looked hurt at the loss of her touch but there was no way in any of the nine circles of Hell that she was going to let herself believe that it was because of the break in contact. It was, if it had existed at all, most likely at the assumption of why she was there.

"I never got to ask you why." Golden eyes looked away from Alice's face and over her shoulder, prompting her to take a glance herself; the sun had set and Aro was beginning to ready their advance.

"Why what?" She asked as she looked back at Bella. It didn't matter if she was a little late; she could catch up after she was done here. Isabella Cullen was more important in that moment. In all moments actually. She caught herself before her thoughts could betray her too much and shook her head to clear them away, back to the dark corner of her mind that was reserved for thoughts of Bella.

"Why you loved me." If there was one thing that Alice would never be able to understand about Bella it was the way she always seemed to be genuinely surprised when confronted with the idea that someone could fall for her. And if there was one thing she would never understand about people it was the fact that they always had to define everything. Even when it couldn't be defined in words.

"I don't know." Bella closed her eyes and Alice had to fight to keep her hand from raising to caress her face. It seemed that after a while away from the girl, any resistance to her allure that had been built up in the past two decades was gone.

"Do you know how long?" The mass of vampires behind them were now moving out of the shelter that the buildings offered, heading for the city walls and the countryside beyond. But Alice ignored them, giving a nonchalant shrug.

"Ninety years, give or take." Golden eyes flew open in shock, confusion and wonderment flickering in there depths. And, if Alice let herself believe, there was something else in there too.

"You haven't known me for ninety years." The red eyed vampire's lips twitched into a bemused grin.

"No, Cara mia, _you_ haven't known _me_ for ninety years."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella was growing tired of riddles and Alice was running out of time; the last of the troupe had already passed into the square and were quickly passing out of sight.

"I've known you since the moment I woke up with no memory of being human. I had visions." The brunette smiled.

"I meant what does 'Cara mia' mean?" A human Alice would have blushed at being caught out so easily, but the Volturi Alice merely smiled, rolling onto the tips of her toes to brush her lips across Bella's forehead. Before the other girl could speak, and before she could persuade herself to stay behind she turned away, tossing over her shoulder:

"I'll tell you when I get back."

/

It had only taken Alice around ten minutes to catch up with the Volturi troupes, but it took her another ten to get to the front of the small army to where Aro was leading them. "Alice." The ancient vampire smiled down at her. They were a fair way outside of the city now and surrounded by grass filled fields that were as yet unspoiled by modern life. Volterra was a mere speck in the distance as they kept moving at blurring speeds. "How is dear Bella?" Aro spoke as if they weren't moving faster than a human's eye could follow towards what could possibly be a small scale war which would certainly leave many of their number deader than before.

"She's ok. She mainly wanted to apologize for Edward." There was a flash of something like irritation in his crimson eyes as he turned them back to the horizon, focusing on the tiny spot that marred the view. The camp where Marcus and Caius were being held.

"I assume he was too afraid of you to do it himself." His reedy voice should have been lost to the wind but it appeared that even the elements knew better than to disrespect Aro Volturi and his voice carried his amusement perfectly. "I am proud of you for how you handled the situation, Alice." She bowed her head, accepting his praise, but didn't speak for fear that she would tell him how much she had scared herself as well Edward. "There they are." He raised a hand and every vampire behind them stopped. Jane and Victor made their way from their battalions to Aro.

"What's the plan?" Victor offered Alice a smile but she was too focused on the small village of tents ahead. They had made their beds at the foot of a small cliff, something that Jasper would have laughed at; it left them nowhere to run.

"Victor, you shall take the right flank. Jane, the left. Alice and I will take the front." The pair nodded and turned on their heels to lead their troupes into position. "This is your last chance to choose Isabella, my friend." Alice realised that Aro was giving her a way out. He could probably sense her fear of what was ahead.

"Bella has Edward." She muttered shortly, focusing on the silent camp. "I have you." She didn't see the bright smile that Aro gave her at her words but she couldn't miss the kiss, feather light though it was, that he brushed across her cheek.  
"Thank you for your kind words, my dear." He gave her a final smile before scanning the scene before him and raising a hand into the air. Without another word the hand dropped and every vampire charged into the camp, sweeping Alice along with them.

The second the forerunners were upon the tents Alice knew that something was very wrong; she hadn't seen a single vampire that hadn't belonged to the Volturi. But it wasn't until she and Aro reached the very centre of the tent village that she realised how wrong things were.

Marcus and Caius were bound in chains, their eyes darker than the night which had fallen around them, and gagged with metal strips that had been bent around their faces. Aro tore the metal away with terrifying ease and then did the same with the chains. Neither Marcus nor Caius stood; Alice figured they were too weak from thirst, but their eyes darted around wildly before fixing upon Aro.

"Why did you bring the entire guard?" Caius' voice was rougher than usual and Alice could plainly see that he was speaking around the burning in his throat that stemmed from his hunger.

"We thought we were headed towards a war, Caius." Aro replied, stooping to help the other lord to his feet. Beside him Victor was doing the same for Marcus, supporting him with a strong shoulder. "Apparently our adversaries have fled." Marcus shook his head slowly and cold realisation settled like ice around Alice's heart.

"They left at sunrise and waited for you to leave Volterra unattended. It is much easier to take a castle when its inhabitants are on a fool's errand." Aro turned to Alice the horror in his eyes reflecting on her own. Bella was in Volterra while the guards who had sworn to her safety were on this fool's errand. He bowed his head.

"Go." The single word was all it took for Alice to shove her way past every vampire behind her, blurring into nothing as she strove to reach Bella before their adversaries did.

* * *

Run faster, Alice. I mean they have most of a day's head start on you there.


	13. XII: Chromaggia

Alice is running as fast as her little legs will carry her, poor pixie. Let's give her a reason to run faster shall we?

* * *

Bella wandered back into the Volturi fortress slowly as she muddled Alice's words over in her head. Her best friend, her husband's sister, had loved her for ninety years 'give or take' and somehow she had never noticed. How did you miss something like that? She had to have been blind and the thought of Alice having hid the feeling for so long made her own heart ache as she pushed the heavy wooden door, to what she believed to be a living room, open.

Jacob and Renesmee were sat on a small sofa together with the latter's head resting on the wolf's shoulders. Edward, on the other hand, was pacing along the back wall. Exactly as he'd been when she'd left.  
"You're going to wear a hole in the carpet." She quipped softly as she closed the door behind her. Instantly her husband stopped pacing and flew over to embrace her. Suddenly the spot on her forehead that Alice had kissed burned. As if by returning Edward's hug she was betraying Alice. But that was ridiculous; if anything it should have been the other way around.

"I'm so sorry." The bronze haired man drew her from her thoughts with yet another apology for the crack in her arm which had already healed. There was no way he was ever going to let himself forget that he had hurt her.

"I know, Edward." She slipped from his embrace and headed for the other sofa, tucking her legs beneath her when she sat. Edward followed her but sat at the opposite end of the furniture, probably to prevent himself from hurting her again. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"What does Cara mia mean?" She didn't direct the question at anyone and she was only half expecting an answer, but she really wanted to know. It had to mean something or Alice wouldn't keep saying it to her. Edward always said 'my love' and Aro said 'my dear', Bella needed to know what she was to Alice and it was infuriating her that she had to use a language that Bella didn't understand.

"It's Italian." Edward murmured, his tone was resigned, as if he knew exactly why his wife was asking the question. "It means 'my beloved'." Jacob and Nessie both looked over to them in time to see Bella become fascinated with her wedding ring; twisting it around her finger and watching it catch the light.

"Oh." It was all she could say to Alice's endearment. She sighed. "Did you know that Alice loved me for ninety years?" Bella didn't care that Renesmee and Jacob could hear anymore, they already knew anyway and it would certainly save her endless questioning when it was all over with. That and she was still too stunned by the news herself to think about how they would react to it.

"I had an idea, yes." Edward sighed heavily and placed a hand to his forehead. "I thought she had gotten over it by now. She told me she had the day you came to Forks." Bella frowned and suddenly realised something.

"She gave me to you." There was further proof that Alice was too inherently good to be Volturi. At least Bella hoped that after twenty years the goodness was still so pure.

"Alice always spoke of two futures for you. One where you married me." Edward sighed looking around the room, anywhere but at Bella. "And one where you married her." Jacob coughed.

"I never really had a chance here, did I?" He was smiling but the look in his eyes betrayed a slight disappointment that his efforts really had been in vain the whole time. His wife slapped his arm gently.

"That's my mom, Jake." The wolf dropped a kiss onto his wife's head, unable to restrain a grin.

"Alice could never see you Jake, so we'll never know." Edward marked a beat. "I think it was Alice's choice that hinged both futures. She knew almost every detail of our lives together and the life you could've had with her, but the only person she talked to was Rosalie." Bella bit her lip hard enough to bring a bead of blood to the surface; that would certainly explain why Rosalie had never really liked her. "Apparently you would have been much…safer with Alice. She would never have left you like I did. You'd probably have been happier too." Bella shuffled closer to Edward and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a loose hug. She'd have spoken to him if she wasn't so lost in her thoughts; it wasn't often that you were told that twenty years of your life had hinged on a single person's choice.

If Alice had chosen to pursue her would it be Alice sat beside her on a Volturi's sofa while Edward was out fighting alongside Aro? Would Jacob be sat across the room worrying for Edward's life as he was Alice's? She knew Renesmee wouldn't be there, but would there somehow have been a child? A vampire turned too young who'd they'd taken in as their own? Would there be a recently healed crack in her arm?

She stopped herself, shaking her head to remove the questions from her mind but one refused to move until it was acknowledged. Could she love Alice as she loved Edward? Yes. She knew she could; there was no thought needed, even though the pixie like vampire was everything her brother was not. The question now was did she?  
She could still feel the feather light farewell kiss on her forehead and merely comforting Edward felt like some kind of betrayal. Bella laid her forehead onto her husband's shoulder, willing herself to stop thinking. It was making her chest ache and she felt a sudden kinship with Sam Uley.

The door slammed open and an unfamiliar red eyed man burst in, a dark cloak flowing behind him. Both Bella and Jacob stood, Nessie and Edward mimicking them only a second later when the intruder was joined by another man.  
"Aro said that we were to be left alone." Bella's voice was soft but she surprised herself when she heard the undertones of power. If the men had been human they would no doubt have turned away. As it was the second man smiled lecherously and fixed his crimson eyes on her.

"We're not under Aro's control, little lady." The first man had a slight southern accent that reminded her a little of Jasper, but the Southern Gentleman's voice would never be filled with such darkness. She felt ice surround her heart when she realised that the enemies of the Volturi had tricked Aro; he had taken the whole guard to fight them and they had just slipped inside while they were gone.

Jacob's form exploded and milliseconds later the familiar brown wolf was snarling at the men, snapping at the air threateningly. "Look, Gabriel. A puppy." The first vampire smirked as he lashed out with his foot and caught Jacob in the muzzle. There was a sickening crunch as the kick connected and Jacob recoiled, whimpering as blood dripped from his mouth and nose.

"Look. This can go easily…or badly. You're vegetarians; you don't belong here." Gabriel spoke now and his bell like voice was hypnotising, his words were reasonable. "Unfortunately my soldiers got a little excited when we stormed the castle." Bella swallowed; she didn't need to be Edward to know what he was thinking. Especially when the bronze headed man tensed. "We need at least one hostage. The others may go free." Bella took a step forwards, ready to offer herself but a granite hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to see Edward with his jaw set into the face that would accept no argument.

"Edward, no." He bent slightly to place a kiss against her lips, whispering as he pulled away;

"It's better this way." She clung to the hand on her arm begging him not to go. Not to die when she realised that he always knew that something like this was going to happen. Maybe not this exactly, but something like it. Alice had seen it all and now he was giving her to his sister.  
"No. It's not." Bella muttered, but let go of his arm anyway.

"Dad?" Edward moved to their daughter and pressed his lips to her hair. He didn't need to say a word to her; she could pluck anything he wanted to say from his mind. On his passage to the door he ruffled Jacob's fur in an almost fond gesture.

"You have a hostage." Gabriel smiled as he took hold of Edward's arms in a vicelike grip that made the vegetarian wince.

"You're a brave young man, Edward." He commended him without moving his gaze from Bella. "William. Go and fetch that girl for me please." Bella tensed, ready to rush to her daughter's aid. "The feisty one, not the daughter. Take her to the throne room and wait for me there." William stepped into the room and was immediately set upon by Jacob. He was knocked to the floor by the sheer force of the car sized wolf and could only twist out of the way of the razor sharp fangs that strived for his throat.  
In the doorway Edward was struggling too.

"You said you only needed one hostage. Leave Bella alone!" He yelled managing to elbow Gabriel in the face before he was subdued again. The intruder shook his head with an amused smile.

"Actually, I believe we said that we needed _at least_ one hostage. And I assure you, Bella will not be a hostage, per se." Edward roared when Gabriel's intentions aligned themselves in his head and Nessie rushed to his aid, beating at his captor with her fists. Gabriel seemed unfazed. Finally Bella stepped forwards.

"Jacob." She muttered the word but it was enough to get the wolf to look up from his task. She jerked her head to the side and, reluctantly, Jacob moved away from William. "Renesmee."

"No." Her daughter's eyes blazed with a mixture of rage and sadness as she turned from Gabriel. "Mom, no."

"_Nessie._" The use of the nickname that her mother hated stopped the girl protesting further. "Take Jacob and get out of here. Find Alice; she'll take care of you." Bella knew what she was really saying; 'find Alice and Aro. Find help.' She also knew that Nessie knew too when the girl nodded, flying into her arms. Bella kissed her daughter's cheek and hugged the wolf who had sat at her feet before looking to Gabriel. "Now let them go." The red eyed man smiled.

"Of course, my beloved." She shivered at the endearment; it was Alice's endearment and that man had mutilated it. "Renesmee. Jacob." Gabriel moved Edward out of the doorway and waved the girl and the wolf past them. "Don't look back; my guards know that I'll send people out, you'll be ok." William struggled to his feet with a groan and blood streaming from the slashes in his face from Jacob's teeth. He glared at the beast as it followed Nessie from the room with his tail low. William's hand closed around her elbow and he lead her towards Gabriel. "On second thoughts, William. You take Edward here to the battlements and then get yourself cleaned up. Bella and I will be in the throne room until the show begins. Will you come and fetch us then?" The two men switched hostages efficiently. Edward mouthed an apology but Bella ignored it, focusing her whole being on praying that Alice had seen what was happening and was already on her way. Then she realised that with Jacob involved there was no chance of her seeing anything. That Alice wouldn't know until it was too late.

She mouthed her own apology as Gabriel lead her the opposite way to the one that William was dragging Edward.

* * *

And if that doesn't speed her up, nothing will. Not that she knows of course, although now that Jake's gone she might see or something.


	14. XIII: Time After Time

Keep running, my dear Alice. Just keep running.

* * *

Alice was able to see the city walls, pushing herself to the very limits of her speed, when her sight began to swim. Bella's face flashed before her eyes, terror making her golden eyes wide before her image was replaced with Edward's. It was as if two different visions were warring for the right to play out first.

_Bella's back was against a stone wall, probably one of the fortresses walls. She couldn't move._

_Edward couldn't move either; his arms were bound to his sides by the hands that held them still._

_Hands. There were hands all over Bella's body. She was writhing in an effort to get free but the hands were too strong._

_Edward wasn't strong enough to fight all of the vampires that were waiting for him to fall from the battlements. He almost wished the fall could kill him._

_Bella's lips moved, screaming silent words to Alice but the hands at her belt were not slowing in their quest._

Alice hit the ground at the crest of the final hill before Volterra and tumbled down the other side as she strove to catch the breath she did not even need. She knew that she had to choose which vision would be left to play out fully; Edward's death or Bella's torment. She rolled to her feet the second she stopped falling with the rage in her heart fuelling her feet ever faster.

If she went to Bella first Edward could be dropped from the battlements. The fall wouldn't kill him but the vampires at the bottom certainly would. He wouldn't be able to hold them off for long either.

But if she went to Edward first, the vampire whose face she had not seen; and he had to have been a vampire to hold Bella against her will, would be allowed his way with her. And that was something that no one would forgive her for happening, not least herself.

The after images of their faces had faded as she sped through the city gates. She was lucky it was dark really; no humans could see her moving at such speeds, not that they would believe their eyes anyway.

"Alice!" She was only half sure that she had really heard the voice, that it hadn't been the echoes of her vision, so her step didn't falter until she saw the brown eyed girl with the wolf at her side. As soon as she saw them she stopped, pulling Renesmee into a close hug.

"Are you ok? Where're Bella and Edward?" She already knew the answers of course but there was still a part of her that wanted to deny her vision. Wanted it not to be true.

"They said they wanted hostages. I didn't like the way the leader looked at Mom." A soft growl told them both that Jacob hadn't liked it either. Alice glanced over the girl's shoulder; the fortress was within sight. "They only went so we could get out." Absentmindedly Alice placed a hand on Nessie's shoulder and tried for a reassuring smile.

"You guys wait here. Aro and the others shouldn't be far behind me." But they were; there was no way that the whole army could cover that distance as quickly as Alice had. Of course they didn't have the same motivation as she did. "When they get here send them on in."  
"What about you?" It was obvious, wasn't it? Alice blinked at the girl who looked so much like Bella, all too aware that the longer she stood there the longer that faceless vampire had with Bella. And the sooner Edward would fall.

"I'm going inside." She didn't wait for the inevitable argument that Nessie would make; her instinct was ordering her to move now. She had to move in that second or it would be too late to save anyone. So she ran. She ran at blurring speeds for the door and was inside the Volturi fortress before another syllable passed the half vampire's lips.

There were no guards beyond the doors which told Alice two things. First they fortress had definitely been breached. And second the intruders were confident in their ability to keep the castle. As she heard footsteps around the corner she slipped her Volturi cloak from her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet before moving to meet them.

She didn't want to have to fight unless she had to; fighting took valuable time, so she was pleased when the crimson eyed man passed her by without really looking at her. Maybe he was under the impression that the Volturi would attack en masse rather than as a lone girl. As soon as he had passed she drove her elbow into the back of his head with all the force she could manage, forcing him to his knees. From there she twisted his head from his shoulders and took the sword from his belt.  
"Mind if I borrow this?" She quipped as she turned, not even waiting for his body to hit the ground before bolting down the corridor.

She reached the throne room quickly and batted the door aside as easily as if it had been a curtain. Bella was pressed between a wall and a vampire's body. His lips were on hers, swallowing any sound and his hands were seeking to memorise her form. Alice growled, raising her stolen sword but, while the kiss was broken, the hands didn't even slow down when the man turned his eyes onto her.

"I'm busy, come back later." He thought she was one of his minions. She almost laughed, but when one hand disappeared beneath Bella's shirt the laughter shrivelled up and died.  
She crossed the room in barely a second and knocked the man away from Bella as easily as if he'd been human. He hit the wall with a sickening crack but Alice didn't even look; her eyes were too busy searching Bella for injury.  
"Are you ok?" The brunette wouldn't meet her eyes. "Bella?" She took gentle hold of her chin and turned her head until their eyes locked. In that second the dull gold burst to life and Bella threw her arms around Alice's neck as if she were a lifeline.  
"Alice!" The shorter girl smiled into her friend's shoulder, returning the embrace with the arm that wasn't holding the sword.  
"It's ok; I've got you. It's ok." The sound of small stones falling to the ground reached Alice's ears, forcing her to release Bella and look in the direction that she'd thrown her assailant.  
The crimson eyed man was pulling himself out of the crater that the wall had formed around his body with a dark smirk on his lips. Once his feet touched the floor again he clapped slowly.  
"Congratulations. You got my attention." The red eyes skated across Bella's form hungrily and instinct made Alice step in front of the brunette, sword raised. "Are you her knight in shining armour, _Alice_? Here to fight for her honour?" Alice didn't even need to think.

"Always." A thin smile pulled at her lips but half of her brain was wondering how much time Edward had up on the battlements before he was pushed over. The other half of her brain, however, couldn't help imagining herself in full armour standing between a terrified Bella and a dragon, sword and shield raised and ready to die if necessary.

"Then, Gabriel versus Alice. For the Lady Bella." Alice used one arm to push Bella out from behind her, towards the wall where it would be safer. The other arm held the sword steady.

"For Bella." As soon as the words passed her lips Gabriel threw himself at her, a blade of solid air in his hands. She didn't know where it had come from and she certainly didn't know what it was, but she did know that it was deadly sharp as it whistled through the air beside her head.

The second she was out of his path she lashed out with her own blade, grateful that Jasper had ensured that she could fight with a sword, among other things. Gabriel twitched out of the way, sending his weapon hissing towards her ribcage. Alice wasn't quick enough to move out of the way and the shimmering edge tore through her jacket, leaving a hair thin line on her ribcage. But instead of dwelling on the slight injury she used that moment to thrust forwards in a neat move that let the point of her blade slide into his shoulder. She didn't know how the sword could possibly be sharp enough to break vampire flesh and neither did she care. All she really wanted to do was make sure that Gabriel was nothing but ash for what he had done to Bella. For what he had been going to do.

Bella watched the two claret eyed vampires dancing around the room at blurring speeds, sharing blows and she couldn't tell who was winning until Gabriel stuck out a leg and Alice fell to the ground. She had never seen the ever graceful girl fall and cried out.  
"Alice!" Her heart felt as if it were screaming too when Alice turned her head to look at her, her face set in a grim mask. A death mask, a voice in the back of her head whispered as Gabriel raised his sword. No. Alice wouldn't die.

Before Bella was even aware of moving she had flitted to the other side of the room and tackled Gabriel to the ground. She wrestled with him, pushing the double edged blade of his sword closer and closer towards his throat.

"I think, technically, this is cheating." Somehow Gabriel's voice was still reasonable, even with multiple lacerations to his skin and the edge of his own sword against his throat. Another set of hands laid claim to the strange sword, Bella looked to the side to see Alice watching her with a bizarre intensity that sent a shiver rolling down her spine. "I was foolish to believe that you would lose, Lady Alice."

Gabriel watched the spiky haired girl take his sword from Bella, all the while keeping enough pressure on it to keep him submissive. "I was foolish to believe that you would let your love fall into my hands." Alice didn't answer him; her ruby eyes were as cold as the blade in her hands as she pushed it effortlessly through his throat.

She stood, ever gracefully, ignoring the various cuts and breaks in her porcelain flesh and pulled the matchbook from her pocket. She struck one and watched it burn, waiting for it to lick at her fingertips before she dropped it onto Gabriel's corpse.

"Fool." She hissed through her teeth before turning to Bella. "Are you ok?"

"Thanks to you." Bella flew into Alice's arms again. "Cara mia." Alice pulled back slightly, keeping her arms around the brunette's waist.

"Bella-"

"It means 'my beloved' right?" Alice nodded, suddenly not trusting her voice and brushed her lips across Bella's forehead. "Edward told me everything." She cursed her brother silently; he chose now, of all times, to become noble? Typical Edward. She couldn't stop the small smile though.

"We need to get to the battlements. Edward needs help." She released Bella the second she remembered her brother but Bella snatched her hand up again.

"Tell me one thing first?" Alice pulled Bella along, headed for the door; they could talk and walk. "Why didn't you let me kill him?"  
"You've never killed before. You'd have felt guilty for months and I didn't want you to hurt over someone who didn't deserve it." Bella smiled; the other girl had been trying to protect her innocence. "I want you to do something for me now." Alice marked a beat, releasing Bella's hand. "Go to Nessie and Jacob at the gate."

"Alice-"

"It'll be easier for me and Edward both if we know you're safe." Using Edward was a cheap trick but Alice needed to get her to leave. Her instincts were crying out again; telling her that she needed to get to the battlements now. She didn't have the time to argue with Bella. "Please."

"Ok." Bella turned on her heel and began to speed away, stopping at the end of the corridor. "Don't die." Alice offered a sketchy salute before racing for the stairs. And her brother.

* * *

'Don't die'? Really Bella? That's the best you could come up with? 'Don't die'? Yeesh, you're just asking for something to happen to her. Or Edward. Or both for that matter. Hey I have no control over what's going on here; Alice was supposed be in full on sanguinolency mode by now. But hey that just shows how much the plot gets away from me, huh?


	15. XIV: All Fall Down

I know, I know; short chapter. Blame Alice. She's the one not doing as she's told.

* * *

Edward wriggled slightly, testing the strength of William's grip. The crimson eyed man was holding his arms pinned to his sides and they were standing at the very edge of the Volturi battlements. William's grip was strong.

Below them was a crowd of people. Edward had thought them vampires too until the moon had caught their eyes and revealed them to be a strange milky white.

"What are they?" He asked, finally deciding to break the silence. He could hear the vampire's resentful thoughts of Gabriel taking Bella for himself and wished for nothing more than a chance to stop him. But that being impossible he would settle for at least learning what he could while they waited for Aro and Alice to return. Maybe she could do a better job of protecting his wife than he had.

"Thrall." William's voice held a smile but his thoughts betrayed a slight fear of the beings that clamoured below the tower. "Humans that we have… gathered I suppose would be the word, and turned to our way of thinking." There was something about the description of the humans that turned Edward's stomach.

"I don't understand." He was close to understanding though and he did not like what the cresting realisation looked like. William chuckled darkly, his grip intensifying just for a second.

"I have this power. I can bend humans to my will but once they are under my thumb they become something less than they were. I did not think that possible once upon a time." Edward shifted his feet, hating this man more and more as each word passed his pale lips. He forced himself to keep his face impassive and his body language unthreatening. "They have developed a taste for flesh. Vampire flesh if they can get it but human would suffice." The realisation made itself known with a cold chill that raced down the vegetarian's spine.

"I'm not a hostage am I?" William laughed again.

"No. You're not a hostage." Edward closed his eyes and wondered how long it would take the thralls below to tear him to pieces. He wondered how on Earth their teeth were strong enough to break vampire flesh. He wondered how it would feel to be eaten alive, if that's what he truly was. But mostly he wondered if he would be stood here if Alice hadn't deigned to give him a wife.

"I'll trade you." Edward's eyes flew open in the same instant that William whirled them both around to face the voice. There was a cry of dismay from below but both vampires ignored it because Alice was standing on the battlements with a sword levelled at head height, looking all the more dangerous for the lattice of cuts in her porcelain flesh. Her claret eyes were dark and cold. Edward was having a hard time reconciling this girl with his warm-hearted sister.

This time William's laugh was shaky, even with Edward as a shield.

"You'll trade me what?" Alice's eyes narrowed and the edge of her lips twitched into a smirk. Her sword didn't even waver. It was then that Edward saw the blood on it.

"My brother or your life." The sword didn't even waver as a mournful howl echoed up from the ground. "Which would you rather keep?" If William was scared by the diminutive vampire he didn't show it.

"Get to Bella; she's in the throne room." Edward took the moment of quiet to call to his sister. He knew that Alice's love for Bella was as strong as his, stronger even. Bella might've been better off with her all along. "Then get out."

"You think I came for you first?" Something had hardened Alice since they'd last spoken civilly, since she had first taken human blood. He wanted to know what it was but her mind was a haze of sword techniques and what they had looked like when Jasper had shown them to her years ago. "I sent Bella outside. She's ok." That was a relief to him at least. At least his wife would not have to pay for his mistakes.

"Then you should get outside and join her. Make sure she stays that way." Fire burst to life in Alice's eyes and she adjusted her grip on the sword handle. William gripped Edward tighter.

"Stop trying to martyr yourself. She's in love with you and if you die up here then she is never going to be ok again." William moved one hand away from Edward, pressing the vegetarian against his body to keep his shield as his other hand moved to the sword at his belt.

"She loves you too." There had to be better places for heart to heart conversations than at the very edge of the Volturi's roof but for some reason it had always taken a terrible situation for them to talk. To actually talk about something important.

"I'm her sister, she said so herself. She needs her husband so if you don't mind I would appreciate it if you would stop being a shield and let me rescue you." William released his sword from its bindings and threw Edward to the side before diving for the pixie like girl.

Edward rolled, fingers scrabbling at the stones in an attempt to stop his fall but he couldn't stop entirely and ended up hanging over the edge, clinging onto the crenulations. The thralls cheered.

/

Alice parried the first blow with some semblance of ease and the swords sang of their first meeting. Seconds later the other blade was biting into her side before returning to the air.

The girl put a hand to the wound, reeling backwards. It was deep and stolen blood was spilling out of it. She briefly entertained the possibility of a vampire bleeding to death. William returned his sword into the guard position and watched her closely.

"My thrall are getting restless, someone should feed them." He muttered as his gaze flickered from Alice to Edward and back again. Alice wiped her blood onto her trousers and adjusted her grip on her sword.

"You're right; someone should." She flew for him, sword on target for his heart and was met with blinding pain.  
Jasper's voice echoed through time in her ears; _'it doesn't matter how good you are if you neglect your enemies weapon_'. She hadn't realised how true that was.

She and William were connected like some strange creature of legend; his sword entering her stomach and exiting her back while hers had pierced his chest and reappeared behind his shoulder. William sputtered as Alice walked them towards the edge.

"What are you doing?" Alice smiled coldly, lifting one foot.

"Feeding your thrall." She planted her foot in William's stomach and pushed steadily, gritting her teeth against the pain of his sword slowly leaving her body.

"No!" The man had time for one panicked shout before he ran out of floor to stand on. He knew that his thrall wouldn't recognise him; they hadn't fed yet and they were hungry for flesh. They weren't too fussy where it came from.

Alice put both hands to her stab wound and attempted to staunch the bleeding as Edward pulled himself back onto the roof.

"You're hurt." Blood was seeping through her fingers and dripping onto the floor. It was almost as if she were a human and the blade had stricken a major artery, or worse an organ. But that couldn't have been it; a vampire's veins and organs did not bleed. Although most swords could not break a vampire's skin, maybe it was the blade that had caused this.

"I'll be ok." Despite her words, she swayed and her eyes clouded over. Edward reached out and swept his sister into his arms, cradling her unmoving form to his chest as he turned his back on the tower.

In the courtyard below the Volturi were storming their own castle.


	16. XV: How to Save a Life

Another chapter. My apologies for the delay; it is strangely hard to figure out why in Tartarus Alice would be bleeding so much. Harder stilll to find out how to stop it. Oh well, problems aside I managed it.

For _Boo_, my anonymous reviewer, the following following definitions of romance; **a)** a love affair **b) **ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love. So, _Boo_, in answer to your latest question, most of the story so far has been romance. Although I thank you for your concern over my attachment of the genre.

* * *

Bella paced along the length of the outer wall of the Volturi castle. Nessie let her eyes follow her mother's movements, silently trying to work out who she was more worried about; Edward or Alice.

Jacob had changed back to his human form not long after the Volturi had arrived and a passing vampire with a French accent had given him his dark cloak. The werewolf wore it tied around his waist like a skirt as he too watched Bella pace.  
"Bell, will you relax already?" The constant movement was making him dizzy and it certainly didn't help in his efforts to stay as calm as possible. His childhood friend stopped and whirled around to face him.

"No, I will not relax!" She half yelled; he flinched at the golden fire in her eyes. "Alice could be dead. My _husband_ could be dead up there." It didn't escape anyone's notice that she had mentioned Alice first and neglected to use Edward's name at all. Nessie nodded to herself, satisfied that her question had been answered and looked away from her mother in favour of the door.

Only seconds later her searching gaze was rewarded with the sight of her father, Alice cradled in his arms and Aro trailing behind him with a worried glint in his dark red eyes and a bloodied sword in his hand.

Bella saw the procession next and a sharp cry tore itself from her chest as she sprinted to meet them. She saw the stab wound in Alice's stomach and felt the unneeded air driven from her chest.

"What happened?" She demanded, not even giving Edward a second glance. The bronze headed man laid his sister gently onto the floor, taking the utmost care not to jar her stomach, before looking at his wife. His topaz eyes were swimming with unshed tears of clear venom.

"She fought William off me. I told her to go but she wouldn't. He stabbed her." His voice broke. "She wouldn't leave. She said you needed me more than her." Edward searched Bella's face for a confirmation of Alice's words but he found none as his wife pressed small hands to the bleeding wound in his sister's body.

"She does." A ghost of a whisper fell though Alice's lips and even Aro had to strain his ears to hear it. The now familiar burgundy eyes remained stubbornly closed. "Did we win?"

"I told you not to die!" Bella sobbed, her hands slick with blood and her face wet with venom.

"I've been dead for years… we all have except… Jake and Nessie." She smiled weakly and tried to catch the breath that she didn't even need. She opened her eyes and frowned at the sight of Aro sniffing the blade that shone with her stolen blood. "What are you doing…my Lord?"

"This blade. It is a masterpiece in metal work." Alice gave a coughing half laugh, swallowing the blood in her mouth before anyone could see it. Edward was running a hand through her hair looking as if he'd just seen a fire truck speed over his puppy. It was hard to believe that it was only hours ago that she had been seriously considering setting light to his flesh.

"In case you haven't noticed Alice is bleeding to death here." Jacob grumbled with his eyes fixed on the vampire's stomach and the blood coating Bella's hands as she tried to stem the sluggish flow. Aro ignored him, turning the bloodied sword over in his hands.

"A vampire's venom has been worked into the metal here. That certainly explains how dear Alice was stabbed." He placed it onto the ground for a second, smiling down at the injured girl before picking it up again. "I have heard of something like this before…" Alice moved one of her hands slowly to cover Bella's. Their eyes locked for the briefest of moments before the pixie like girl moved her friend's hands away and then turned her head back to Aro.

"What did you hear?" Nessie pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and tossed it towards her father who pressed it to his sister's wound. Alice brushed him away too.

"In a human, vampire venom stops all bodily functions; however, vampires can be scarred by the same process. Marcus believes this is because the venom reactivates the cells that it touches. In your case my dear, blood. Marcus also found that once there is no blood left, the infected vampire is more of a reanimated corpse than anything else. A thrall, if you will."

"Or a zombie." Nessie muttered under her breath but everyone heard. Alice chuckled and coughed. This time the blood slipped past her lips before she could stop it.

"I've never really been… partial to brains." She rested her head on the concrete and stared directly upwards, listening to the sounds of battle that were echoing from the courtyard.

"Is there a way to stop it?" Bella demanded her eyes somewhere between ice and fire as she looked from the blood on her hands to the drop trickling from Alice's lips. "Is there a way to save her?" Aro smiled, rolling up his right sleeve before taking the sword in his left hand.

"Of course there is. Vampire blood works wonders in vampires. That's why drinking it is illegal." He pressed the blade into his right wrist, biting back a hiss of pain. "Could you support her head for me please, Jacob?" The werewolf scooted past Bella and rested Alice's skull in his hands. Aro offered his bleeding wrist to Alice. "Drink this, Amante. You'll feel better." Alice turned her head.

"I can't." She was getting short of breath and the pool of crimson liquid below her was sizeable. Aro moved her head back to him with a single finger against her chin.

"Drink, Alice. That's an order." He smiled when ice cold lips closed resignedly around the cut in his wrist. He could feel his vampiric blood being pulled from his body and his head swam as images from Alice's head flickered behind his eyes.

"It's working." Bella grinned in relief, watching the worst of the cut begin to close over. She wanted to touch the new flesh that seemed paler than the rest but didn't dare.

"I want to take her home." Edward stroked his sister's unruly hair gently as her eyes drifted closed. Aro returned his arm to his side, shaking his sleeve over his cut and Jacob laid the girl's head back onto the floor. The only sign that she wasn't dead was the telltale flickering of her eyelids as her eyes darted from side to side beneath them. She seemed to be asleep, or unconscious. He no longer cared that she loved Bella; he'd nearly lost both of them and he had never been more convinced that Alice had made the wrong decision ninety years ago.

"I think she would like that." Aro smiled down at Alice's serene face. "I would ask to accompany you." Edward and Bella shared a short glance.

"Of course."

/

It was a good thing that Edward had arrived in Volterra separately to the others because now that Aro and Alice had joined them, there was not enough room for them in one car. Nessie and Jacob had taken Bella's car, leaving Edward, Bella, Aro and Alice in the second vehicle.

"She loves you both, you know." Aro was the first to break the silence as they crossed Italy. Edward and Bella occupied the front of the car, while the Volturi Lord sat in the back with the unconscious Alice stretched across the other seats, her head resting against his shoulder. "It's strange; I've never met anyone with such a capacity for love."

"What do you know about it?" Bella sounded numb. She had argued with the man before they'd left over who got to sit with Alice. It had been Edward who'd broken the stalemate by telling her that Aro should stay with the unconscious girl in case she needed more of his blood.

"Bella. I've been in Alice's head many times since she came to me. I know everything about _it_, as you so aptly say." Edward took a corner too sharply and there was a beat of quiet where the only sound was the wind rushing by outside the car. "She's in love with you but she's under the impression that Edward deserves you more." The bronze headed boy's grip on the steering wheel intensified.

"Well she would be wrong; I don't deserve Bella more at all." Aro shook his head, absently brushing his fingers through Alice's unruly hair.

"Both of you are wrong." He waited until Bella had twisted around in her seat and Edward had caught his eye in the rear view mirror before he deigned to elaborate. "Did either of you think to ask Bella who she wanted?"

The brunette turned away, twisting her wedding ring around her finger, deep in thought. She'd already realised that she had the capacity to love Alice as she did Edward. Just as she'd already learned how deeply she did care for her. She wished things could be simple.

Edward kept his golden gaze on the road ahead, pretending he couldn't see his wife lost in thought. For once he was incredibly grateful for her shield; he didn't think he could stand to hear her weighing up the differences between him and his sister. He knew he couldn't bear choosing who she loved more. Couldn't bear hearing her thinking of how much better than him Alice was. Or seeing her reliving what had to have been a heroic rescue.

In the back seat Aro planted a gentle kiss onto Alice's head. He wasn't exaggerating when he said that he'd never seen someone like Alice before. Not only did she love everyone to some degree; barring only those who threatened her loved ones, but everyone loved her too. To some degree.

* * *

She lives!


	17. XVI: Love Song Requiem

Thanks lemonelephant, I won't :) Hope you had a good day and Happy Belated Birthday :)

Ok, so they took Alice back to Alaska...

* * *

The movement started at her fingertips and spread to include her whole hand, but it was the shift in the slow breathing that caught the attention of the bright eyed watcher.

A cry for Carlisle echoed through her ears and suddenly she was aware of a burning in her throat. A groan pulled itself from her lips as someone took her hand in theirs. Alice opened her eyes slowly, fully expecting to see Aro at her side and was met with the strangely crimson gaze of Jasper Hale.

"Jazz?" His name fell from her lips unbidden and her musical voice was rough. She had no doubt that her eyes were black as pitch but, when the Southern vampire raised her hand to his lips; a smile broke across her porcelain face.

"Carlisle called when Aro showed up on the doorstep with you cradled in his arms. Thought you might want to see me instead of dealing with everyone." The gentle voice was a salve for her soul and she felt intensely grateful for the vampire doctor's thought. "I hear you've been raising all kinds of hell while I've been gone." Her smile faltered.

"You know me; I like to keep busy. How's things in Ireland?" She was saved Jasper calling her on the less than subtle subject change by the door swinging open. Carlisle strode inside, lab coat lapping at his heels with a flask in his hand. But before the door could close again she caught sight of the rest of the family and Aro in the hallway. She forced a smile.

"Alice, I'm glad to see you awake; we were worried." The doctor smiled warmly and Alice found that she couldn't hold his gaze. She'd broken his golden rule, more than once. And she'd enjoyed it. Jasper squeezed her hand gently.

"I'm sorry." Carlisle's face softened and he held out the flask cup of red blood to her. Her mouth watered the very second her nose recognised it as human.

"Don't be. Drink this, you look thirsty." She took the cup with trembling hands and tried to retain some semblance of manners as she gulped the sweet liquid down. She remembered the last blood she had drunk with a jolt and lowered the cup from her lips.

"How's Aro?" His blood had been spicy and just thinking of the taste made her long for more. She settled for a sip from the cup as she appreciated one of the many reasons that drinking vampire blood was illegal. It was addictive. Especially when the song of power rang in every droplet.

"He's worried too." Carlisle took the empty cup and placed it back atop the flask. "I can let him in, if you think you're ready." Alice immediately sought Jasper's gaze and her grip on his hand tightened slightly.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to, Allie." His presence at her side was soothing, she'd forgotten how so. She smiled her thanks.

"Sure." Carlisle leaned over her to place a fatherly kiss onto her forehead.

"No matter what you choose from here, Alice, you should know that we all love you just the same." Ruby eyes locked with soft gold again and Alice was surprised by the honest care in them. She shouldn't have been; he was the closest thing to a father she'd ever had, and she was his daughter. But she still felt surprise. "However I will recommend that you stay in your bed for at least today; your new skin will be rather fragile." Alice hated staying in one place for more than an hour at a time and she knew that her horror at spending the whole day in bed was written across her face, because Jasper chuckled.

"Carlisle is right, dear one." Aro smiled down at her as he passed into the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "The regrown flesh is only as strong as a human's right now. Movement at your usual pace could damage it."

"I could be careful." Both Aro and Jasper laughed at the child-like statement and the guileless gleam in her ruby eyes.

"I'm sure you could, Amante." The Volturi Lord took her free hand gently and ran his marble thumb across her knuckles. "I am glad that you are well."

"Thanks to you." She remembered the man cutting deep into his own wrist to provide her with blood. Anyone could've done it; he could've ordered it from Edward or Bella, but instead he'd done it himself. It was yet another testament to how taken he was with the newest member of his guard. "How are you?"

"I am fine. However your family are waiting outside and are beginning to become impatient." Alice glanced towards the door quickly, knowing that there was a small horde of vampires plus one werewolf and a half human on the other side. She didn't think she could deal with them all. "You don't have to." Her gaze fixed itself back on Aro; he'd read her mind but she hadn't felt the pull of his power. "I don't think I need to use my power any more. Not with you, Amante. Ever since I gave you my blood I have been able to sense you. Not your thoughts or feelings," he nodded at Jasper, "but your presence. But when I touch your hand it is as your thoughts are my own."

"Kind of like a werewolf imprint." Jasper murmured with a slight frown.

"Yes, in a way." A part of Alice knew that this development should be a problem to her, a worry, but she found that she didn't mind it at all. She could think of no one she would rather this happen with. "Not even Isabella?" Aro interrupted her thoughts again and immediately responded with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry; sometimes it is hard to realise you are not speaking aloud."

"It's ok. No, not even Bella." If Bella could know her every thought at a single touch, she would have to work hard never to think again. Aro nodded in understanding and got to his feet.

"Carlisle has said that only two people are allowed to see you at a time. He did not want to overwhelm you. Who do you wish to see next?" Alice closed her eyes; she didn't know. She wasn't sure she could face Bella and Edward just yet and the same held true for Nessie and Jacob. She just wanted to see someone who hadn't seen Alice Volturi. Someone who hadn't seen her bestial actions in Italy.

"Emmett and Rose. Esme too." She knew what Aro was going to say before he opened his mouth. "I know that's three but I'll be ok."  
"You can be the one to explain to Carlisle then. I will come back later, Amante." Aro sketched a slight bow, drawing a grin from her lips.

"See you later, My Lord." As soon as the door closed behind him, Jasper's hand shifted in hers.

"Amante. He calls you his lover." He murmured, glancing at the door in case anyone were to come inside and hear.

"No. He calls me Lover. Not _his_ lover. Just Lover because he thinks that's what I am. He thinks that I love everyone and everyone loves me." Alice caught his eye as a wave of understanding washed over her. The door swung open.

"He's right."  
"What's Jazz talking about, Ali-cat?" Emmett's jovial voice cleaved the conversation in two with an absurd ease. Both of the crimson eyed vampires fell silent and turned their heads to see the giant of a boy, his wife and their mother moving to stand beside Alice's bed. Rosalie took a seat on the edge and brushed a spike of hair from her face.

"Hate to say I told you so, Al." The sisters shared a smile; they'd both known that they'd end up there. Alice had just chosen to ignore it.

"Sure you do, Rose." The injured girl's eyes flickered to those of her mother. "Esme-"

"Don't even think of apologising to me, young lady." Esme folded her arms across her chest with a strong maternal gleam in her eyes. "You hurt everybody when you left, not least yourself. But staying would have hurt you more, I acknowledge that." At Alice's surprised face, the woman chuckled. "I'm your mother, dear. There are not many things you can hide from me."Alice shared a glance with Jasper. "Aro treats you well?"  
"Yes. Very well, actually." Emmett snorted but was silenced by a glare from his wife.

"Good." Esme stepped forwards and dropped a gentle kiss onto her daughter's forehead. "Say goodbye in person next time. And take better care of yourself."  
"Yes, ma'am." Esme smiled softly and left the room.

"So… what were you trying to hide from Esme?" Emmett was officially the only member of the Cullen family who didn't know her secret and as soon as Alice's eyes connected with Rose's neither of them could stop their laughter. "No, seriously. What was it?" Jasper squeezed Alice's hand and got to his feet, ruby eyes glittering with mirth.

"Come on, Em: I'll explain." He took hold of the larger boy's elbow and led him from the room. Alice felt the loss of his presence as clearly as the loss of a limb but she forced herself to remember that he hadn't gone far. She could actually hear the moment that he gave away her secret because Emmett's shocked yelp echoed through the house, sending Rosalie and Alice into another fit of laughter.

When the door opened again they were doubled over, clinging to each other in an attempt to stop the hysterics.

"Hey." This time it was Bella's voice who silenced Alice and forced her to look at the new arrivals. She had been expecting Nessie and Jacob next but; instead, her eyes met those of Bella before skating along to Edward's. Alice stopped laughing.

"Hey." Rosalie found one of her hands, squeezing it before standing from the bed and leaving quietly. There was a hushed conversation that Alice could hear before the door finished closing as her blonde sister tried to convince the other two members of their family to leave their visit until later. Edward coughed to break the silence.

"How are you?" Alice almost laughed at the tension in the room; it was palpable and more than slightly uncomfortable. But more than that; it was ridiculous.

"Depends." She forced herself into a half-sitting position and held her arms out. "Can I get a hug?" A smile broke across her brother's face and he stepped forwards, stooping until he could envelope Alice in his strong arms. As soon as he broke away, Bella took his place but her embrace was soft and strangely warm.

It was Alice who pulled away first that time, pretending that she didn't see the hurt flash through Bella's eyes, or the way Edward shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I'm good. You guys?" Edward sat down in Jasper's chair and Bella took the spot on the bed that Rosalie had vacated.

"We're good too." The brunette smiled the tips of her fingers just resting against those of Alice. The touch was slight but the crimson eyed girl could feel it along her whole arm. She knew that she should break the contact; it wasn't fair on Edward, but she simply couldn't so she sought her brother's golden gaze instead.

"Thanks to you anyway." He grinned at her, determinedly ignoring the subtle touch. He and Bella had spoken almost unceasingly while Alice was unconscious. About Bella and Edward. About Bella and Alice. About what she would have done had they given her a chance to choose. About what she would do now.

"You'd have done the same, Edward. I know it." Alice tapped the side of her head with a gleam in her eyes. Of course in the world where Alice had won Bella's love there hadn't been a chance for Edward to prove that but he didn't know and the lie made him relax in the chair. The tension dissipated.

"If you say so."  
"I do." Silence reigned for a few seconds and Bella sighed.

"You're not going to ask, are you?" Alice looked from her brother to his wife, a frown pulling at her features. Edward shrugged but didn't offer any help.

"Ask what?" Bella shook her head and moved her hand away.

"Why I'm not-" She stopped, leaning forward to drop a feather light kiss to Alice's forehead. It was much like the kisses they had exchanged when the brunette was still human, only Alice could feel it long after Bella pulled away. "I'll see you later, Alice. Maybe we can hunt when you're not under house arrest."  
"I doubt it; our diets aren't exactly the same right now." A disappointed glint entered the golden eyes and Alice fought to rectify it. "Maybe I can watch you hunt, Cara Mia. I can get a blood pack to go."  
"Sounds good." Bella tossed a smile over her shoulder as she left.

"What did she want me to ask her?"Alice barely waited for the door to finish closing before turning on her brother.

"She wasn't wearing her wedding ring." His eyes were tortured even though there was a hint of a smile on his face. "She said she needs to think."  
"I'm sorry, Ed." She leaned her head back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling and the moonlight that played across it. "I left to try and stop this." He laughed.

"You'd already seen that things would end up with you in the Volturi. Surely you'd seen that things would end up back here too." Everyone seemed to think her visions infallible, with the possible exception of Rosalie. Alice sighed heavily.

"I was supposed to be dead by now. That stab wound? In all of my visions, I died. For good."

* * *

Tell me about it, Al. You were dead in what little planning I had too .


	18. XVII: Stand in the Rain

Hey a new chapter :) and it's time to talk, Alice.

* * *

Alice perched in the topmost branches of a tree watching the forest floor below with bright claret eyes. Carlisle had insisted that she rest her body for an extra three days before he allowed her to leave her room. The very moment he had given his permission though she had fled the room, craving fresh air. She had taken up Bella on her offer of a hunt without a second thought, snatching a large blood pack on the way out of the door.

The blood was cold and sludgy but it was human and Alice was more than a hundred percent sure that it tasted better than whatever Bella had decided to hunt. She had lost sight of the other girl not long after they had entered the forest; Bella had caught the scent of something and raced after it, leaving Alice drinking the blood through a straw.

As soon as she was drinking stale air instead of sweet blood Alice had cast the dry plastic organ aside and turned her head to the sky. She'd climbed the nearest tree and flew through the treetops until she'd caught the scent of Bella. Then she had waited.

A flash of brown on the forest floor below caught her eye as a young stag bolted past the base of her tree. A split second later a brown haired vampire passed behind it, her body but a blur even to Alice's sight.

The pixie like girl took a flying leap into the next tree, barely letting her dainty feet touch upon its branches before pushing off again towards the next. She didn't stop until the smell of spilt deer blood hit her nostrils. She crouched in the tree, watching her sister in law feed in rapt fascination.

Even though an insistent rain had begun the brunette's beauty had not diminished in Alice's eyes. She watched the rain soak her hair turning it black as Bella stood, her dark eyes flooding with gold as she looked around her.

"Alice?" Her musical voice easily carried over the raindrops and Alice asked herself how she had ever managed to ignore this girl for as long as she did. "Where are you?"Alice bit back a laugh; it was amazing how people never thought to search above. No wonder so many predators took to the trees and skies.

"Up here, Cara Mia." Alice barely waited for those golden eyes to catch her own before she dropped from her perch. "You're beautiful when you hunt, has anyone ever told you that?" They both knew that by 'anyone' she meant Edward, just as Alice knew that the human Bella would have blushed profusely, bringing sumptuous blood to the surface of her skin.

There were many things that Alice missed from Bella's human life; the comforting sound of her heartbeat being one of them, but the constant lust for her blood, battling the desire to tear open her throat whenever the girl passed by, was certainly _not_ one of them.

"Edward told me that you're supposed to be dead." Alice dropped her eyes; she should have known that Bella would want to talk; why else remove both of them from the rest of their family? She glanced at her counterpart's hand and saw that she still didn't wear her wedding ring. Did that mean that she was still thinking? Or had she already made a decision and that was why they were out in the forest?

"Did he?"Alice pushed a rain soaked spike of hair from her face, mentally lamenting her shoes as slick mud leeched into the fabrics.

"Alice." Ruby locked with gold and Bella shivered even though she couldn't feel the chill carried by the rain.  
"Yes, Isabella?" The other girl seemed amused. Bella took an unneeded breath and a step nearer to her closest friend.

"Why did you never tell me?" Alice cocked her head to one side with a soft smile.

"That I was supposed to die up on that tower? Would you have let me go and help Edward if I had told you that?"  
"Never." There was such conviction in the musical voice that Alice would have to be deaf not to believe her. "You never gave me a choice you know. Neither you or Edward ever let me choose who I would love." Blood red eyes found the floor again, watching the fat raindrops make small craters in the soggy ground. "Was there a reason other than misguided honour?" Alice smiled and half turned away. Bella caught hold of her wrist. The grip was gentle and would have been easy to break, she didn't. "Alice. Was there a reason?" For a moment silence reigned, broken only by the rustle of leaves as they were beaten insistently by the rain.

"If we had let you choose, you wouldn't have chosen Edward." She refused to look at Bella but the grip on her wrist grew a little tighter. "You would have been married to me by now."  
"Would that have been so bad?" Bella sounded hurt and when Alice took the hand from her arm and looked her in the eye, the molten gold turned hard. "You gave me to Edward so you wouldn't have to marry me?" The Volturi guard sighed heavily, the girl had no idea. How could she? Alice had never told her. She hadn't even told Rosalie this.  
"You would also have been dead." The gold melted again, rippling with shock. "You would have still survived James of course and I wouldn't have left after Jasper attacked you on your birthday." She chuckled. "It's amazing how similar the two futures were really."

"What would've happened, Alice? What was so terrible that you would put yourself through watching me with Edward?" Alice blinked; she really didn't know. Isabella Cullen honestly had no idea how deep her feelings ran.

"_Your death_ was so terrible. I may have been unhappy but at least you are alive. Me and Edward are more alike than people think; we're both selfish when it comes to love: I couldn't lose you like that and Edward couldn't lose you at all." Alice looked up at the rain, letting it run into her eyes. The water ran down her face like tears and she didn't brush them away. "We should get back; there's a storm coming in." As if to confirm her words soft thunder rolled across the sky.

"What would've happened? In that future, what would've happened?" Bella wasn't going to let it go. Alice sighed heavily and took an unneeded breath of damp air.

"Because I didn't leave you, you never got close to the wolf pack. Jacob was less accepting of me than he always was of Edward and when we got married there was an argument. About you becoming a vampire." She closed her eyes as the misty images of old visions flashed behind her eyes. "You told him it was your choice what you did with your life and that he couldn't stop you. He told us he would see you dead before he saw you become a vampire."  
"Jacob killed me?" There was a soul deep sadness in Bella's voice and Alice itched to take her into her arms and soothe the sadness away. But she had started the story and now she must finish.

"We went against the pack's wishes, breaking the treaty. The wolves came to our house while you were going through the change. We fought them but both Jasper and Edward had left us by then and Carlisle was at the hospital getting more anaesthetic on the off chance he ran out. We were outnumbered and I couldn't protect you. By the time I saw that Sam had gotten past us you were already burning. I went berserk; killed Sam, Jacob, Quil. I tried for Seth but Leah got to me first. At least I wouldn't have lived without you for long." Bella reached out and wiped the tear-like drops from Alice's face.

"Edward said something like that." The moment the name passed her lips, Bella cursed herself for mentioning her husband. Alice drew back out of reach. "That he never intended outliving me for long."

"Like I said; we're a lot more alike than people realise." Thunder crashed and lightening flashed overhead, reflecting in Alice's ruby eyes and allowing Bella to see the tiredness in them. She felt suddenly reckless.

"Like you said; given the choice, I wouldn't choose Edward." Before Alice could even process the words Bella had closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to Alice's. She could taste sweet human blood on her lips. The kiss was everything that Edward's wasn't; soft, yielding. But it was still careful, as if Alice was afraid to hurt her when she finally responded.

It was Alice who broke away first, flitting backwards to stand a few feet away from Bella.

"You should speak to Edward." She muttered. "You're still his wife." And no matter how right having Bella in her arms felt or how much she wanted to kiss her again, there was still a part of her brain that screamed at her that this was her brother's wife that she was kissing. And no matter how right it felt, it wasn't fair on Edward. To her surprise, Bella nodded, holding out a hand to her.

"You're right. We should go back to the house." A shadow in the tree above Bella's head caught her eye. She caught a flash of blonde hair and smiled slightly.

"It's ok, you go on ahead. I want to watch the storm for a while." Bella let her arm fall back to her side with a nod and turned away.

"I'll see you soon, then." Alice sighed when the slightly hurt tone reached her ears but Bella was already dashing through the trees, too far away for Alice to apologise, so she turned her gaze to the blonde in the trees.

"Hey, Rose. You can come down now." The statuesque vampire dropped to the soggy ground with all the grace of a panther and sauntered over to stand before her sister.

"You never told me she'd die." Alice shrugged and Rosalie pulled her into a tight hug. "And I spent years trying to persuade you to change your mind. I'm sorry. You should have told me."  
"You resented her enough as it was. It wouldn't have helped things any."

"I could've tried to understand." Alice gave her tinkling laugh, moving out of her sister's embrace.

"Rose, I love you, but you're not the most understanding person in the world." She danced out of the way of the playful slap Rosalie sent her way. "See what I mean?"  
"Start running, Pixie." The blonde glowered down at her but the wide smile gave her away. Alice scrambled up a tree and leapt from branch to branch, her sister right on her heels.

* * *

So that's why she let Edward have her. I was wondering myself actually.


	19. XVIII: The Mess I Made

And, finally, another chapter, and I'm surprised that noone, not even _boo_, picked up on the double decker bus sized plothole in the last one. Hm, no worries though, all is explained here on in.

* * *

Alice sighed mentally; her mind simply would not stop turning itself over and over. She hadn't seen Bella since the forest but she had heard her telling Edward everything that Alice had told her there. The pixie like girl was now waiting for one of them to realise exactly what had made her bury herself out of sight in Carlisle's study. She had lied. Not every word of her explanation of her visions had been false, only the fundamentals. But she had no doubt that, sooner or later, someone would see right through the lie that stared them in the face. She could only hope that they would have the presence of mind to talk to her before Bella.

"Alice?" A velvet voice pulled her gently from her thoughts and she returned her gaze from the wall to Aro, finally remembering that he had been trying to talk to her before she had lost herself in her troubled mind.

"Yes? Sorry, Aro. I was thinking." The ancient vampire smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth. Once upon a time she would have found that intimidating, now she simply smiled back.

"I could feel that much. Is there anything in particular that is troubling that pretty head of yours?" Only the fact that she had, once again, bent the truth beyond all recognition for no purpose other than her own peace of mind.

"A couple of things really. Nothing I really want to talk about." Especially not while she was still in the Cullen house and anyone of her family could hear her.

"Alright." To anyone listening outside that would seem to be the end of the conversation, but, of course, they could not see Aro holding out a pale hand to Alice. Nor could they see her take it, closing her eyes as she sought the memory for the man to watch. She heard his slight intake of breath at the explanation of her vision, at her lie, and felt him squeeze her hand gently as Bella kissed her. Then she switched memories to the real vision and he released her long before it had played out. He had no doubt already seen the inconsistencies.

Alice searched his eyes for even the slightest hint of disappointment that she knew must be there. But she couldn't find it behind the crimson understanding. Aro cradled her hand in his.

"Alice Cullen, anyone else would have lost that nobility after living with the Volturi for so long. And yet you… Amante, you are an enigma." Aro leant forwards and pressed his thin lips to her forehead. It was then that Alice realised what he'd called her.

"You called me 'Cullen'." Aro chuckled as he withdrew and stood, towering above her.

"Of all the things I call you that you could object to, you choose the one that was yours before all this. Why is that, my dear?" He had only used the term of endearment to highlight his words, Alice knew that, but it still brought a small smile to her face.

"Because I don't belong here anymore." As soon as her admission hit the air the study around her seemed oppressive instead of comforting as it had when she first wandered inside. It was as if the house was agreeing with her. "One too many lies and a few too many kills." Aro bowed his head, whether in agreement or sadness Alice never found out before the door behind him swung open.

Edward was stood in the corridor, looking in at her. He ignored Aro who suddenly seemed intimidating rather than warm and safe. Alice chuckled under her breath; those were two things that she never would've thought she'd associate with the Volturi lord. A twinkle in Aro's eyes told her that he had caught that particular thought and the steely glint in Edward's told her that he had too.

"You lied to Bella." The disappointment and confusion in her brother's voice made her wince. Aro sent her a glance which she answered with a small nod. He swept outside, probably to wait in the hall, ushered Edward inside and closed the door behind him.

If Carlisle's study had seemed oppressive mere moments before, now it was stifling. Almost as stifling as the silence between the two siblings was.

"You told her that you saw the wolves break into our house in Forks. You said that you saw the wolves kill you all." Edward marked a beat in his speech. "You lied. Didn't you?" Alice stood, no longer able to stand sitting still while her brother towered above her. She began to pace, feeling his topaz eyes fixed on her as she tried to think of a way out of her lie. "_You can't see werewolves in your visions_, Alice_!_"

"Yes. I lied." There wasn't a way out she realised and with that realisation came the thought that she had spun her web of lies masterfully. And now she was a small spider tangled in her own web while a much bigger spider watched her struggle. "I lied. I thought I could protect you from the truth." Edward caught hold of her narrow shoulders, forcing her to stop pacing and making her look at him.

"Protect me from the truth? You lied to _Bella_." Alice couldn't hold his gaze. Not knowing that he was searching her mind to try and find the truth. She started to recite the phonetic alphabet in her head.

"I know who I lied to, Edward." The grip on her shoulders was growing painful but Alice couldn't help but think that she deserved the dull pain. Just as she couldn't help the sharp tone in her voice.

"Tell me the truth." She shook her head and Edward shook her roughly. "Tell me the truth, Alice. You owe me that much." She didn't answer him, refusing to even let a syllable past her lips. He sighed and seemed to deflate, letting her go and looking away.

"I'm sorry."  
"If you were sorry then you'd tell the truth. Don't insult me." Tears of venom welled in her eyes so she turned away, moving to lean on the windowsill. It was still raining outside and the sun was beginning to set, turning the raindrops a beautiful shade of gold. "Why did you lie about the wolves attacking the house?" He was standing beside her watching the rain fall.

"I had to."

"Because Bella's death was the best reason you could think of for giving her to me? Because your real reason wasn't good enough?" Her fists clenched around the windowsill. "Because you were too much of a coward to take her for yourself and needed to justify that? Why would you have to lie about this? What could be enough of a reason for you to warrant making up a story about the girl you claim to love being killed by her best friend?"

"Because it was you!" The words were past her lips before her brain had even conceived them and she pushed herself away from the windowsill and towards the other side of the room. She had reached out for the door handle before Edward had realised what she'd said.

But he was fast. He was so fast that his hand caught the door as it opened and stopped Alice from slipping through the gap.

"What?" He didn't believe her, she could tell. But there was no way he was going to let her go; not now he had sensed the honesty in her head. She closed her eyes and summoned her visions to the forefront of her mind yet again. Alice was glad that he didn't need to touch her to read her thoughts; she didn't think she could bear her brother's thoughts as she watched what could have been unfold behind her eyelids. This version of events was unblemished by her thoughts and came in short, jerky scenes, just like her unneeded breath.

_The Cullen house was silent except for the soft notes of the piano that swept through the halls of muted light. _

_Esme was playing the instrument. Rosalie and Emmett were dancing wildly around the living room while Alice and Carlisle had adopted a slower, more traditional dance. _

_The dancing vampires were gone and Alice was skipping down a corridor towards a door that stood slightly ajar, letting a stream of light into the hall. She pushed the door fully open and the scent of old blood invaded her senses. She screamed._

_Inside the room Isabella Cullen's head had been callously torn from her neck and lay forlorn on the pillow of Alice's bed. Her golden eyes were clouded._

_A figure stepped from the shadows in the corner of the room Alice shared with her wife, topaz eyes glittering with a long repressed madness. It was Edward and he held an unlit match in his bloodstained fingertips. A feral smile broke across his face._

_The bed was on fire and Alice was on her knees, covered in blood and screaming as soot blackened her porcelain features. Edward delivered a blow that sent the vision to blackness._

"No." Edward recoiled, releasing the door and while there was nothing Alice wanted more than to leave him, she knew she couldn't. He knew she wasn't lying; he could always tell. "No, I wouldn't." She caught his eyes, topaz eyes that were devoid of the madness of her vision.

"How did you feel when you found out that I'm still in love with your wife?" Edward looked away, ashamed.

"I was glad you'd left. Happy that you would go to the Volturi instead of trying to take Bella from me. Then I was angry when it made her sad; it was like you were winning, even though you weren't here." Alice would applaud his honesty at any other time but in their situation she hardly thought it appropriate.

"How would you have felt if I hadn't left? If I'd just told her?" Her brother clenched his jaw reflexively and she didn't need to hear his answer. "And if you hadn't had a chance with her at all? If you'd had to watch her with me, knowing the future you could've had."

"I'd have gone to the Volturi. Just like you did." He shook his head, bronze hair flying. "I wouldn't have killed her."

"She kissed me today." She thought of the memory and Edward's eyes narrowed to bright, angry slits.

"You lie, little sister." He attempted to push her away but Alice forced herself to stay between her brother and the door.  
"No. Ask her yourself, or Rosalie if you must. I tell the truth."  
"You lie!" An ice white blur caught her eye as the back of his hand collided with her face. The force of the blow sent her reeling into the wall and Edward forced his way past her and out of the study. Before he could get far he was faced with the crimson eyes of Aro who stopped him with an outstretched hand against the boy's throat.

"Leave him be, Aro." Alice clear voice came from behind them both. There was a hair line crack high on her cheek but her gaze was steady.

"Are you sure, Amante?" She gave a crooked smile reminiscent of her brother.

"You tell me, my Lord." Aro removed his hand and let Edward pass. Once the bronze headed vampire was out of earshot he wrapped his arms around the pixie like girl and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." He murmured as she wrapped tiny arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. She swore there was a phantom heartbeat in his chest beneath her ear.

"I can't stay here much longer." Aro didn't answer so she let the sensation of being held by the powerful vampire comfort her.

* * *

Thank you for reading thus far, friends :)


	20. XIX: Closing Time

Woohoo! Free from college and with a whole fortnight to hide from the work left with me, I come bearing a chapter for you, my faithful friends. Edward couldn't quite decide how he wanted to behave so he fell back on the delightful attitude that I usually give him. Yeah, that one.

* * *

Alice had barely waited for the pale sun to finish rising before tracking her family down, member by member, to say goodbye. Aro, of course, had spent the night trying to talk her out of it but she hadn't wavered and he had, eventually, caved in.

"I don't understand. You only just got here." Nessie pleaded with her, her brown eyes full of sorrow. She was still so childlike in so many ways. Alice pressed her lips to the girl's forehead. "I don't understand."  
"I hope you never have to, child." Aro's voice came from the doorway to Nessie and Jacob's room in Bella's cottage. Alice sent him a short glance and took a step away from the half vampire.

"We should just get back to Volterra. I'll call you when we get there, I promise." Her words brought a slight hint of comfort to the pools of brown but that didn't even begin to counteract the sadness.

"It's ok, Ness. We can always visit, right?" Jacob wrapped an arm around her shoulders, looking down at Alice with his wise, understanding eyes. Again, it was Aro who spoke for her:

"Of course. You are welcome anytime you wish." The ancient vampire smiled softly; he had given that exact same promise many times already to the other members of Alice's family. There was no doubt in his mind that the Cullen's were going to become very familiar faces to the Volturi guard.

"See? We'll be there so often they'll get sick of us." A sad smile pulled at Nessie's lips and Alice felt an unbelievable wave of gratitude for Jacob's presence.

The pair were the last on the list of goodbyes and the further down it Alice had gotten the harder it had become to go through with it. She suddenly realised why she had written letters the first time. But she had made her mother a promise that this time she would say goodbye in person and she fully intended to keep her word.

"That's not possible." She grinned up at the werewolf she had grown so fond of and allowed herself to be pulled into his arms. "I'll see you soon."

"Soon." Nessie echoed, raising a hand to wave.

"Sooner than you think." Jacob echoed with a wink.

Alice's grin widened slightly and, as she turned on her heel to leave, she saw it reflected on Aro's face too. She allowed herself a brief moment to savour the second Cullen home before she flitted from the room with the Volturi lord right behind her.

It only took them seconds to reach the outside of the cottage but Alice didn't stop running until Aro's voice echoed behind her, asking for her to stop. She turned to him slowly, the sunlight giving her a pale halo.

"You didn't say goodbye to Edward." That wasn't strictly true; he'd been in the living room playing the piano when she'd bid farewell to Rosalie there. She hadn't spoken to him directly but maybe that was for the best. The crack in her cheek had healed but the memory of her brother's hand striking her face was still stingingly fresh. Her excuses left a bitter taste in her thoughts, she bowed her head.

"I know." She spoke to the floor, not needing to look at the Volturi lord to see his disappointment. Alice guessed that her famed nobility had finally died; there was only so much punishment it could take after all.

"You didn't speak to Bella either." She hadn't spoken to Bella since the girl had kissed her actually. Not because she was avoiding her but because… Alice shook her head; there wasn't a reason, there wasn't even an excuse. She simply hadn't spoken to Bella. That was all.

"I know that too." A voice in her head laughed at her. _Coward_, it crowed, and the word echoed through her skull a thousand times.

"You should. Amante, you shouldn't run from her again." Aro spoke words of wisdom, Alice knew that, but instinctively she shied away from the idea. She didn't know if it was Edward's rage, the thought of her vision, or simple cowardice, but she really didn't want to face Isabella Cullen.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye." Alice turned to see the girl herself, standing with her arms folded and her back to the cottage. It wasn't a question and the golden eyes were perfectly frozen. "And don't even try and deny it because Rosalie tipped me off." Alice cursed her sister under her breath; the girl picked now of all times to take sympathy on Bella?

"Ok." She muttered, forcing herself to look Bella in the eye. "Yes, we were leaving and no, I didn't intend to say goodbye." Sadness mingled with triumph thawed the twin golden pools and Alice felt her heart twinge in answer.

"Why not? Another vision?" Alice didn't know if Edward had told his wife that she had lied but the bitterness in her voice certainly indicated so. She took a breath of damp morning air.

"No. No vision. I'm just a coward." She cursed the pitiful note that her voice had adopted and sensed more than saw the slight smile that was pulling at Aro's lips as he attempted to look as if he wasn't watching them. Bella stepped closer.

"Alice." She took one of Alice's hands in hers and let the pair hang loosely between them. "You ran into the Volturi castle, expecting an army, to rescue me and Edward. You are not a coward." The numbness spread from their joined hands until Alice felt as though she were floating above the ground. For the first time that day she questioned why she would ever want to leave again. She gave a small smile.

"If you say so, Bella."

"So." A challenge blazed in the honey eyes but Alice couldn't bring herself to answer it so she let herself be swallowed in waves of silence. Aro coughed, drawing her attention.

"I'm afraid that I left my sword with Carlisle. I will just be a moment." He didn't wait for an answer before he flitted back towards the main house. Alice sighed as she remembered her father's interest in the venom laced blade that Aro had insisted upon keeping, if only for its 'masterful workmanship'. Apparently it would've been a crime to destroy such a masterpiece.

"I can't help thinking Rosalie and Aro planned this." Bella grinned, swinging their joined hands slowly. Alice couldn't stop herself smiling back.

"Rose and Aro working together. Now _there's_ a scary thought." They shared a laugh before they returned to silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though, it was warm and safe and neither felt the need to break it.

"You can't see werewolves in your visions." Bella's voice was soft and so were her eyes as they watched Alice stiffen and freeze. "So it was either you or Edward. Can't have been Jasper 'cause he seemed happy enough with the idea of you leaving him for me." Alice remained quiet, watching the truth unfold itself in familiar golden eyes. "I can't see you lying so spectacularly to save yourself so that leaves Edward. Edward was going to kill me in that other future wasn't he?" The question was a formality; Alice knew that because she could see the sad finality in Bella's eyes. But she could also see that it was a formality that was desperately seeking an answer.

"Yes." Bella shook her head. Alice wondered if the taller girl realised that her thumb was drawing gentle circles on the back of her hand.

"And you went and told him that I kissed you." Alice shifted her feet; it had been more than a moment; Aro should surely have returned by now.

"Yes, I did."  
"Are you suicidal?" Bella was telling her off, she realised with a start. Not for lying to her though but for riling Edward when she knew that he could have killed her. She shook her head in wonder.

"I don't think so." Bella lifted their hands and brushed her lips across Alice's knuckles. Heat suddenly banished the old numbness from her limbs and she beamed as another kiss was pressed to her forehead.

"Good; I like you much better alive." Alice pulled Bella into a tight hug, breathing the familiar smell of her. She didn't realise that her eyes were closed but she was certainly glad when she reopened them with the intention of looking at Bella again.  
Edward was stood in the shadows of the cottage, his tawny eyes glinting in the pale sun which also shone off of the blade hanging at his side. Aro's blade. Aro's venom-worked blade.

Alice reacted swiftly, spinning Bella behind her and settling into as defensive a stance as she could manage in her unarmed state.

"Well met, little sister." Edward's lips quirked into the crooked grin that Bella loved and the sword remained loose at his side but Alice didn't dare relax, not knowing as she did, that he was so much faster than she. Not knowing that her body was the only shield that Bella had should he turn the stolen blade on his wife.

"Edward, what's going on? Why are you here?" Bella was the one to speak; Alice didn't think she could form words while she tried to disintegrate the sword with her eyes alone.

"I can't say goodbye to my favourite sister?" He smiled blithely, putting his free hand out in a peaceable gesture.

"Don't let Rose hear you say that." Alice gave the expected and usual answer at the same time as Bella said:

"Not with that sword you can't." Edward chuckled and stepped nearer; Alice held her ground but pushed Bella a half step back.

"Now, Alice." He stepped closer again. "You know I'm only here to see you on your way. The sword is just to ensure that you go."  
"And leave Bella with you." She completed the thought he had left unfinished and was rewarded with a bright smile from her brother.

"You always did know me so well. We're so alike, you and I; maybe that's why we both fell for the same girl." He raised the sword and used its tip to gently brush a spike of hair from Alice's eyes. "Maybe that's why we both lied to her, left her." She batted the point away, hating the glint of dark glee in Edward's eyes.

"She isn't all like you." Bella's voice had lost the volume it had had only minutes before, but it hadn't lost an iota of its conviction. "She never once laid a hand on me, or you for that matter." Edward faltered slightly but quickly stood straight again.

"She was never married to you when you kissed me." There was a veiled insult in Edward's voice that made Alice clench her fists and finally turn her smouldering ruby eyes onto his face.

"Say your piece, Edward. I should be headed back to Volterra." He gave her a smile.

"With or without my wife?" She returned it.

"I've learned my lesson, brother." Edward's grin was coloured with triumph and a spark of amusement flickered to life in Alice's eyes when she felt, more than saw, Bella shift slightly so she stood further in Alice's shadow. "This time it's Bella's choice who she stays with."

"I think we all know I made my choice already." Bella moved out from Alice's protection, her golden eyes shining with steely determination. "Here." She pulled at Edward's free hand and set a small object into his palm before closing his fingers around it. The tortured gleam in Edward's already darkened eyes told Alice what Bella had given him; it was her wedding ring. "I'm sorry."

Edward roared, an animalistic sound full of heart-wrenching pain, that made Alice want to curl up and cry. But the weak sun glinting against the venom-worked blade distracted her as the weapon was raised above her brother's head.

"No!"

* * *

Yes, yes I am aware that that was the worst possible way to end the chapter. But, still, yay for Bella and boo for Edward.


	21. XX: Carnival of Rust

Ok, **Bela23**, you can breathe now ;P and I can sleep :)

* * *

Alice threw herself forwards and knocked Bella to the floor, out of the sword's path just in time to see Nessie and Jacob race out of the cottage. They were joined a split second later by Aro and the rest of the Cullen family who had no doubt heard the agonising roar of the favoured son.

Bella scrambled to her feet and looked between Alice and Edward. Edward's burning gaze was locked with his diminutive sister's and the stolen sword was raised again, ready to deal any blow she would let him.

Alice on the other hand was still unarmed and stood with her fists clenched and raised as if they could stave off a sword-wielding attacker.

Carlisle stepped closer to his youngest children, probably with an idea of stopping them before any real damage could be done. But Carlisle had not been in Volterra with the others nor in the forest surrounded by rain, nor even in his study the night before, and he didn't know that it already had been.

"Stay back." Edward called to his father, stopping the man in his tracks. His gaze didn't waver and neither did Alice's as he steadied his stance, moving the sword into a more comfortable guard position. "This is between me and Mary Alice."

"Edward, I don't want to fight you." She ignored Bella's soft cry of dismay as she lowered her fists completely, holding a hand out to her brother. "We don't have to do this." He looked down at the hand she offered him and Alice could see a war waging in his eyes; a part of him wanting to take that hand and the rest wanting to cleave it from her wrist for daring to try and take Bella away.

She saw the moment the war was won and dropped her hand to her side with a disappointed sigh, waiting for him to speak.

"You're right, little sister. But I don't suppose that makes you any more likely to give my Bella back to me?" Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Bella look at her as if she was wondering whether Alice's loyalty to her brother could overrule any loyalty to the girl she called her beloved.

"Since I left here I realised something: for the past twenty years I've been a complete hypocrite. I've been telling you that Bella is not an object to be owned by someone when I had the sheer arrogance to believe I had a right to give her away. You see giving her away implies that one of us owns her and that's not true. So no, I won't be giving Bella to you because I haven't got her to give." Edward clenched his jaw.

"Then you were wrong; we do have to do this." He raised the sword above his head with a yell and brought it down with all the force in his long dead body.

Alice remained still even as wordless yells of panic and shouts of warning rang from her family's lips. Only a moment before the blade could connect she slipped out from beneath it, letting the very point caress a spike of hair. Her brother followed his failed slash with a lunging stab, putting his entire weight behind the hilt in an effort to drive the point between her ribs. Again she stepped delicately out of his way and offered nothing in the way of a counter-attack.

"Alice!" A shout rang from the crowd of vampires to their right and, as she stepped through another of Edward's attacks she looked over in time to see Rosalie throwing a sword her way. As it was flying she recognised it as one of the old swords from Carlisle's study; it had been lying around each of the man's studies for longer than Alice had been with them. She had no doubt that it was too blunt to break vampire flesh and she wasn't sure it could stand up to blocking her brother's blows for long. But it would serve. She smiled her thanks as she snatched the blade from the air, spinning in the same moment to look back at Edward.

The second uncut ruby connected with darkened gold, venom-worked steel bit into cold porcelain and Alice cried out in pain. Sludgy blood slipped down her arm as her brother pulled his stolen blade from the limb.

She looked at him with pure shock written across her face because, no matter the force behind his sword or the poison in his words, she had never truly believed that he would hurt her. He had looked so lost, so repentant when she had been stabbed by William back in Volterra. He had been so ready to wish it were he in her place. Alice had never in her darkest daydreams thought he would lay an angry blade on her.

For a moment he looked as stunned as she but a second later the blade was whistling towards her again.

"Alice!" Bella's scream echoed in her ears. This time, she raised Carlisle's blade to meet Aro's and let their song drown out the girl's voice. When the blade's parted a sliver of steel fell from the inferior steel of Carlisle's sword but it held firm as it intercepted a sweeping blow that aimed for her legs.

The blades sang of their meeting again and again but they were silenced by the hollow crack of Edward's foot connecting with Alice's stomach as she reach overhead to block his sword. She flew backwards and hit the floor hard, grateful for her inability to lose her breath but Edward was upon her before she could stand and he kicked Carlisle's blade from her hand before planting Aro's into her shoulder. She struggled briefly but white hot pain stopped her, she was pinned to the ground. He rested a foot against her ribcage anyway and put just enough pressure against it to draw out the creak of bone. Alice stilled.

"Edward." It was their father's voice that stayed his hand but the bronze-headed boy didn't move. "Stop this." He shook his head, no. "Stop this now, this isn't our way. Remember who you are."

"I know who I am, Father and who I am wants to kill my sister for stealing my wife away." Alice could just see her father's blonde head out of the corner of her eye and he was flanked by Esme and Emmett. Rosalie must have been restraining Jasper, or possibly even the other way around. Aro was no doubt keeping his own council as he waited to know whether he would need to step in or not.

A blur of chocolate and ivory stole her attention and Edward was tackled from above her. Bella punched her husband in the face, hard enough for a splinter of his marble flesh to fall away, and still she reared back for another blow.

Carlisle was calling out to Bella now because Edward wasn't fighting back against Bella. He was lying still in the damp grass letting his wife leave him splintered and broken in the mud.

Alice squirmed, letting the cracking sound of her brother's flesh motivate her as she reached across to the blade embedded in her shoulder. She bit into her lip as she drew the bloodied steel free with her unpinned arm. Another crack sounded, louder than the others, or maybe her injuries had heightened her senses, and she forced herself to her feet.

Bella was straddling Edward's hips, tears of venom slipping down her cheeks as her fists kept hitting him albeit it with less and less force. Not that force was needed anymore; Edward's face was a myriad of cracks that intersected and surrounded each other like a web. Carlisle was kneeling next to them, trying to talk Bella into calming down probably, although Alice couldn't really hear his words as he took Bella's fists in his hands and smiled kindly at her.

Alice stumbled over to where her brother lay and looked down at him, dark blood beginning to stain the handle of Aro's sword from the arm that still held it loosely. She had forgotten she was holding it as she looked into Edward's eyes. He was speaking to her softly; she could only just pick out the words but she could tell that Bella and Carlisle were listening, as could the rest of their family who had crowded around them, identical looks of terrified grief on their faces.

"Stop me." His dark eyes seemed darker surrounded by the cracks in his skin. "Stop me now or I'll just keep coming back." She gripped the sword tighter. "You need to kill me here or I won't stop until I've killed you both." Alice shook her head as tears finally escaped from her eyes.

"No." He gave a single jerky nod, only half watching as Carlisle helped Bella away from him. The pair joined the circle of spectators around Alice and Edward and watched them silently.

"Prophecies have a nasty way of coming true, no matter what you do about them." She raised the sword, half blinded by tears and with her brother's voice in her ear. "You should stop me here while you can."

"No."

"Kill me now, Alice. Before I kill you." His eyes flickered closed but Alice couldn't see past the venom in her eyes. "Before I kill Bella." Her howl of grief mingled with Edwards yell of pain and victory as she drove the point of the venom-worked blade directly into Edward's heart, knowing that that would be enough to kill him.

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders but she didn't quiet, she just continued to howl until her voice failed her and she was lead inside by hands she recognised but didn't care to place.

/

Alice was left alone before long; Bella had been dragged away so Carlisle could examine her cracked hands and everyone else was obeying the Cullen patriarch's orders. Alone in her old room she cast a sweeping glance around and saw a small envelope resting on the windowsill. She snatched it up, curiosity pulling at her features, and tore it open.

It was Edward's handwriting.

_'Dearest Alice,_

_I am sure, by now, that you know of my plan and I can only hope that Jacob's presence stopped you from learning it too soon. I hope that I am dead. And I hope that it was by your hands._

_You told me that I was destined to kill our Isabella should she choose you over me, and I, like a fool, did not believe you. But then you told me that she had kissed you and the monster in my breast has not quieted since. I fear that that destiny of mine will still hold true. I pray that you have the fortitude to kill me before this happens._

_If I am dead then my plan was enough and I thank you. I only hope I did not do you too much injury in the process. Better I am dead than the murderer of loved ones._

_Do not blame yourself; I have made my choice and you must trust that it was the right one._

_Do not doubt, no matter what I will say that I love both you and Bella with my whole heart. Goodbye, Alice._

_Your Brother_

_Edward._'

* * *

Yeah, there were a few ways I wanted to end this bit but this one was my favourite. I guess I like the idea of Edward martyring himself this way better than the whole Volturi deal of his.

Oh and _boo_? Nice to see you again, I kinda missed you last chapter :)


	22. Epilogue: Falling in the Black

And here's an epilogue for you, my friends. An epilogue to tie an oddly green ribbon around the rest of the story.

* * *

Alice was still staring at the letter cradled in her hands when the door behind her swung open. Aro stepped into the room silently and offered her a smile that she didn't return. His eyes flickered to the letter, when they returned to lock with hers there was a hint of understanding in them. She on her old bed distantly amused when Aro mimicked her on the other side of it. "I felt your pain from downstairs. How're your wounds?" Somehow, probably thanks to that strange link that they now shared, she knew that the pain he was referring to wasn't of the physical kind.

Alice looked down at the places where the venom-worked sword had broken her skin.

"My wounds?" She had forgotten, hadn't really noticed that someone, likely Carlisle had already bandaged her arm and shoulder. "They're not bleeding anymore." Or at least the bandages were still a crisp white that rivalled that of her skin. Alice passed the letter over to Aro.

"That's a good sign." He replied, his fingers brushing hers as he took the page. "Bella would not be best pleased if you were not well when she returned for you." He had sensed her honesty in that slight touch, she could tell, and only now that he was satisfied of her health was he even beginning to examine Edward's letter. She watched his face harden into marble as his eyes roamed across the flourishing text that had been Edward's handwriting. His eyes darkened to a bloody shade of red when he finally lowered the page. Alice frowned at it.

"I should have known what knowing would have done to him." Aro placed the page on the bed beside him and turned to her, taking one of her hands in his, his thumb caressing her knuckles.

"Alice, my dear, not even you can foresee everything." She ran her free hand through her chaotic hair with a soul deep sigh.

"I could've seen that. Of all things, I could've seen _that_." Alice's hand fell from her head, forming a fist as it did, to hit against the letter, which fluttered to the floor. Her dead brother's handwriting glared up at her reproachfully from where it had landed by the open door.

Alice paused halfway into an answering glare; there were feet in the doorway.

"It was his choice, Alice." The familiar voice told Alice that the feet in her doorway belonged to none other than Isabella Cullen. The brunette was watching her with softly glittering golden eyes, bandages wrapped tightly around her hands. She looked like a bare-knuckle fighter; all bloodstains and bandages. That made Alice smile until she realised that the blood was hers and the injured knuckles had come into being as Bella beat her husband into submission, for Alice's sake. It was then that Alice saw another letter in Bella's hand. "He wouldn't have let you stop him, even if you had seen it."

"That's not the point. I could've-"

"You sound just like him." Bella smiled, stepping into the room fully. She walked right past the smiling Aro and sat beside Alice. She put a finger to Alice's chin and tilted the girl's head until she was forced to look her in the eye. The dull ruby eyes were clouded with thought, or guilt, instead of the usual glint of mischief that Bella had grown accustomed to seeing there. "It was what he wanted, Alice. Thinking that he could kill you and me was killing _him_; he didn't want to take that chance." It didn't escape Alice's notice that Bella didn't once use Edward's name.

"But why make _me_ kill _him_?" Because when Edward was alive it was one of the greatest sins to kill yourself, an act of cowardice, probably, still in his mind. She knew why it had to be her; because it was a perfect mirror to the act in her vision. It was just selfish ravings in her head now that fought the rationalisations there. Aro and Bella must've seen that her question was rhetorical since neither sought to answer her. She sighed for what felt like the millionth time. "This _sucks_."

A laugh burst from Bella's lips and even Aro grinned as the non-sequitur reached their ears. Alice smiled; letting the amusement that coloured the air wash most of her guilt away. The sadness remained, as did a hint of the guilt, but she no longer felt worthy of nothing but following her bronze headed brother's path.

"God, I love you." The words fell from Bella's lips as easily and as impulsively as the laughter had but they immediately charged the air with tension that could blunt even a cleaver's blade. If she was human she would have blushed.

"What?" Neither Alice nor Bella saw Aro stand from the bed and flit from the room, closing the door silently behind him. Bella looked towards the window, watching fluffy white clouds roll by.

"I said I l–"

"I know; I'm sorry… it was… took me a little by surprise… I guess." Bella smiled to herself as she listened to Alice stumbling over her words. Edward had always known _exactly_ what he'd wanted to say. It seemed appropriate that that wasn't a trait that Alice shared. One of Alice's delicate hands found hers, intertwining their fingers.

"I'm coming with you, you know." Alice blinked at the sudden subject change, her eyes flickering to Bella. The other girl simply kept staring out of the window. "You still want to go back to Volterra, right?" She didn't know how Bella knew and she knew that she wasn't looking, but she nodded anyway. "Well, I'm coming with you." Finally Bella turned back to Alice. "If you'll have me, anyway."

This time it was Alice's turn to laugh softly; it wasn't a question of if Alice would have Bella accompany them, or even if Aro would: it had only ever been a question of if Bella would have her.

"Bella, honey, I think we've already covered the fact that I love you too and what, pray tell, makes you think that I would want to leave you behind?" Bella shrugged, a smile pulling at her lips. "If you wanted to stay, I was planning on staying too."

"Well, you don't have to do that; there's nothing stopping me from coming with you. I can always visit the others." Alice squeezed her hand, the sparkle returning to her eyes.

"And they can visit us." She was sure that they would. Maybe not all together but at some point she knew that each of her old family would come to visit the Volturi castle. She would have to get Aro to order Jane to behave when they did. Bella's voice broke her away from her plans again.  
"You know, I think it'd be weird to stay here now. After everything, I mean." There was Bella reading her mind again. She nodded.

"I know." She marked a beat. "Bella?" The brunette looked at her, a questioning noise sounding somewhere in her throat. "I think I'm going to kiss you."

/

The fourth time in her life that Alice walked into Volterra was different to the past three. The first time it had been a desperate rescue mission to save her brother from the Volturi. The second time had been to join the Volturi. And the third had been another desperate rescue mission to save her brother and Bella.

This time though she simply walked through the main gates of the city in broad daylight with Aro Volturi on one side of her and Bella Cullen on the other.

This time she was met with half of the Volturi guard with Victor Delize at its head. Admittedly they were probably there to welcome Aro home but she knew that the smile on the Frenchman's face was for her. Alice took Bella's hand, a reassuring gesture, for both of them.

The three were swallowed up in the procession of cloaked vampires and escorted through the city streets until they hit the Volturi palace. Alice looked up at the tower that Edward had been held hostage at the summit of and felt Bella squeeze her hand gently. They shared a smile and let the mass of vampires push them inside, out of the sun that set what skin it could reach glowing icy white.

They found themselves in the throne room before Marcus and Caius, watching Aro take his seat on the middle throne.

"Welcome home, Alice." Marcus' creaky voice surprised her; she'd never really spoken to him and the last time she'd even seen the man he'd been tied to Caius by heavy looking chains. Nevertheless she inclined her head in a subtle bow without skipping a beat.

"Thank you, my Lord." Beside her she felt Bella freeze and held her hand tighter as she straightened.

"Thank you for regaining control of our home." Marcus was smiling down at her and that more than made up for the sour expression on Caius' face. She nodded her acceptance of his gratitude. Alice opened her mouth to speak of Bella's decision to stay with them but was cut off; "Of course, your consort is perfectly entitled to join us." His ruby eyes glittered but she couldn't help the giggle bubbling in her chest. 'Consort'? She giggle broke free when Bella mouthed the word too.

"Thank you." She managed to sputter the words as she fought the laughter. Bella spun Alice round by the hand to face her, mock glaring with a glimmer of something in her golden eyes.

"Consort?" This time she spoke the word aloud and Alice broke into another stream of giggles. She was still laughing when Bella bent slightly to press her lips to hers.

Alice used to think, not that long ago, that when it came to Bella it was a case of 'fallen'. But as their lips connected, in front of half the Volturi guard and all three of the Volturi Lords no less. She felt as if she were free-falling. Pirouetting in the dark of her long dead heart with no hope of ever stopping.

_Finis_

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And just like that we're done. Farewell and thank you for reading, I'm going to go and revel in my sense of achievement now :)


	23. Preview: Halfway Out of the Dark

Oh, by the by, I probably should let you guys know that there's a sequel by the name of **Halfway Out of the Dark** kicking around on my profile page if anyone wants to check it out.

But first I'm going to do something completely new and had out a preview type thing. Simply because I can :)

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_Erril lifted the visor on his heavy metal helm and exposed his ruby eyes to the Italian sun. He had travelled far with many at his back and not even his eyesight could pick out their destination on the horizon. But this was where they would wait. Wait for an opportunity to move forwards. For an opportunity to strike._

_"I want you to go to Volterra. Alone. Integrate yourself into the Volturi palace, but don't draw too much attention to yourself. Find out how much William and Gabriel told them, if anything."_

_"All children spy but none of us are dangerous."_

_They loved him and they would die for him. __And the people of Volterra may well die too._


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